Call by medical workers to place Mega Manila under ECQ a ‘valid request’ – senators

MANILA, Philippines — The call of a group of medical frontliners to place Mega Manila under a two week period of enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) is a valid request that should be seriously considered, senators said on Saturday.

“It’s a very serious request which the government should take very seriously in plotting out the next steps,” Senator Sonny Angara said in a statement.

“If the doctors and our medical system is overwhelmed then the whole system and government strategy will surely be affected,” he added.

“It is useful for the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, Department of Health and the Department of the Interior and Local Government to sit down with the representatives of the health sector to tackle and address their many concerns— the lack of PPEs, the filling up of hospitals, the state of our testing tracing and quarantine systems and how to improve them- these are some of the urgent issues raised.”

Echoing Angara’s sentiment was Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson.

“The request of health workers to place Mega Manila under ECQ for at least two weeks is a valid request that Malacañang should seriously consider,” Lacson said in a separate statement.

“Putting human lives above all considerations is a no-brainer, given the choice,” he added.

In a tweet, Senator Nancy Binay then appealed Malacañang to stand behind the frontliners.

I appeal to Malacanang to stand behind our frontline health workers. Humihingi sila ng saklolo. Pakinggan nyo naman ang hinaing nila. Perhaps you can find some middle ground, and explore win-win solutions to address critical concerns.#ListenToHealthWorkers #SendingAnSOS #BeNice pic.twitter.com/6WWtEwd3wp

— Senator Nancy Binay (@SenatorBinay) August 1, 2020

“Humihingi sila ng saklolo. Pakinggan nyo naman ang hinaing nila (They are asking for help. Hear their call). Perhaps you can find some middle ground, and explore win-win solutions to address critical concerns,” she said.

Asked if he agrees with the proposition of the medical workers, Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III simply said “I concur.”

Medical workers led by the Philippine College of Physicians urged the national government to revert Mega Manila under ECQ status, saying that the two-week period will serve as a “time out to recalibrate the government’s COVID-19 strategies.”

Palace spokesman Harry Roque said that President Rodrigo Duterte has heard the frontliners’ call, and ordered the IATF to “act on their concerns immediately.”

To date, the Philippines has 98,232 COVID-19 cases, with 65,265 recoveries and 2,039 deaths.

/MUF