Marikina Mayor Marcelino Teodoro. Photo from Marikina PIO Facebook
MANILA, Philippines — Marikina City cinemas will remain closed even if Metro Manila is placed under modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) next month, Mayor Marcelino Teodoro said Friday.
“When I consulted the movie operators, cinema operators and mall owners, here in Marikina, they agreed with the local government, for our cinemas, movie houses to remain closed at this point in time. I even issued an executive order on that matter,” Teodoro said in an interview on ABS-CBN News Channel.
“This is our problem, during MGCQ, cinemas would be open, so what would happen to that executive order? In our case, we will remain to implement the said executive order. Because based on our consultation with stakeholders, they are in agreement with us,” Teodoro added.
Cinema operators were concerned that Covid-19 might infect a moviegoer which may affect the operations of the mall, where the cinema is located, Teodoro said.
“Sabi nila [cinema owners] baka mas maraming problema kung magkaroon ng Covid case at nalaman doon nagsimula sa sinehan nila. Maapektuhan ang buong operation ng malls because the cinema is located in a mall,” he said.
(Cinema owners said they could not risk having a Covid-19 case which originated in their cinema. This would affect the entire mall operations.)
Teodoro also advised movie enthusiasts to instead watch movies online rather than risk their health and lives inside a movie house.
“For public confidence, konti lang pumupunta sa mall. Baka ang discussion na ito ay moot. Who will watch a movie under the threat of Covid-19? Bakit ‘di ka na lang magNetflix?” he said.
(Fewer people go to the mall. This discussion might already be moot. Who will watch a movie during the pandemic? Why not watch Netflix?)
READ: Reopening of cinemas in GCQ areas rescheduled for March 1 —Palace
The Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) approved the proposal to place the entire country under MGCQ by March but President Rodrigo Duterte has yet to decide on the matter next week Malacanang said Friday.
To date, Marikina has a total of 4,364 total Covid-19 infections, 252 active cases, 4,017 recoveries, and 87 deaths.