Kites are tangled up in electrical wires despite a ban imposed by local officials to prevent brownouts. —RICHARD A. REYES
MANILA, Philippines — Curfew hours in Manila are now between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m., shorter by two hours, the city’s public information office announced on Tuesday night.
This was based on Ordinance No. 8647 which was passed on Monday and took effect immediately. It amended Section 1 of Ordinance No. 8616 which enforced a curfew between 8 p.m. and 5 a.m. after Metro Manila was placed under lockdown in March to stop the spread of the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
Despite the shortened hours, however, the penalty for violators remains the same—a fine of not more than P5,000 and/or one month imprisonment.
Other Metro Manila cities like Muntinlupa, Las Piñas and Quezon City have also shortened their curfew hours.Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso said in a Facebook broadcast on Tuesday night that the general curfew would be abolished only with the lifting of the state of health emergency.
He reminded residents that although some restrictions had been eased under the general community quarantine, they should remain responsible as the threat of being infected with COVID-19 was still there.
Meanwhile, the Manila Barangay Bureau (MBB) issued a directive against the flying of kites in the city after it received many complaints.
In a memorandum, MBB director Romeo Bagay said that kites could get entangled in electrical wires and cause power disruption, electrocution and pollution.
In Tondo earlier this month, many kites were spotted hanging from power lines. Meralco spokesperson Joe Zaldarriaga earlier appealed to the public to avoid flying kites near power lines to avoid outages.
The firm said that between March 16 to April 15, there were 47 blackouts after kites and other objects got entangled in electrical lines, affecting about a dozen hospitals.