MANILA, Philippines — It is insensitive to hold parties during the period of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) imposed due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Supreme Court Associate Justice Marvic Leonen said Wednesday.
Parties are mass gatherings. It is insensitive to hold one. The Supreme Court held a retirement ceremony of a justice with 40 years of service via a private videoconferenced ceremony. He deserves more but we had to do what was ethical while our people suffer#NoBirthdayParties
— Help others. Humanity will endure. (@marvicleonen) May 13, 2020
“Parties are mass gatherings. It is insensitive to hold one,” Leonen said on Twitter.
Leonen raised this concern after the chief of the National Capital Region Police Office, Major Gen. Debold Sinas, caused a stir after photos of him circulated on social media that he held a birthday party during the period of ECQ.
Mass gatherings are prohibited under ECQ guidelines established by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases.
Sinas has since apologized for the party, saying that it was never his intention to violate ECQ protocols.
Sinas: ‘It was never my intention to disobey ECQ protocols’
Leonen even raised the Supreme Court held a retirement party for Associate Justice Andres Reyes Jr. on Monday via video teleconference, as they observed social distancing protocols.
“He deserves more but we had to do what was ethical while our people suffer,” Leonen said, adding the hashtag #NoBirthdayParties.
