Physical distancing in events a must, but hard to enforce at times—Galvez

MANILA, Philippines — While there is a need to enforce physical distancing at events, pandemic response chief implementer Carlito Galvez Jr. admitted Monday that there are times when the crowding of people becomes too difficult to be controlled by authorities.

Galvez issued the statement after events attended by presidential spokesperson Harry Roque and Senator Manny Pacquiao were criticized for supposedly violating health protocols.

“[Interior] Secretary [Eduardo] Año is very specific that for [the] crowd that we will be having and also some activities, we are only allowed to have 10 to 20 participants in an open space,” Galvez said in an interview over ABS-CBN News Channel.

“But I believe in some instances in evacuation areas and some programs, we cannot really dictate the situation because sometimes, the people tend to conglomerate and to really crowd themselves in a space,” he added.

Galvez noted that at times like this, they advise the people and even the local government units to impose physical distancing.

“As I have told you, I’ve been going around and sometimes, I saw that in other areas, they are not following minimum health standards. That’s why when we talk with local government units, we give them some sort of an advice that we have to observe, that people have to observe the minimum health standards,” Galvez said.

Roque addressed a large crowd in Bantayan Island, Cebu for the opening of its airport last week while Pacquiao distributed aid to typhoon victims in Batangas.

Año said events attended by both officials will be probed for alleged violation of physical distancing measures.

JE