Pasig City Rep. Roman Romulo during an interview with the Inquirer at the paper’s office in Makati City. INQUIRER file photo / RICHARD A. REYES
MANILA, Philippines — For Pasig City Rep. Roman Romulo, even a pilot study of face-to-face classes should not be allowed in the National Capital Region (NCR) and other urban areas until the vaccination program rolls out.
During the Ugnayan sa Batasan press conference on Wednesday, Romulo, who chairs the House committee on basic education and culture, said it would be hard to observe minimum health protocols such as physical distancing in schools in highly populated areas such as NCR.
“Hanggang walang vaccine, sigurado ako dapat sa NCR and urban centers dapat talagang hindi magkaroon ng face-to-face, kahit pilot lang. Mas mahalaga yung buhay ng tao,” Romulo said.
(Until there is no vaccine, there should be no face-to-face classes in NCR and urban centers, even if it’s just a pilot study. The lives of the public are more important.)
Romulo is more open to the idea of face-to-face classes in rural areas. The lawmaker, however, noted that face-to-face classes can only resume if there is proper preparation.
“Sa mga lugar na ito dapat ay maghanda na ang DepEd at DOH [Department of Health] kasama ng mga LGU… Hindi naman pe-pwedeng tingnan lang yung data, tapos sabihin na ‘Ay, mababa na ‘yung Covid diyan, okay na,’ hindi rin pwedeng ganun lang,” Romulo said.
(In rural areas, the DepEd and DOH, in coordination with the LGUs, should prepare… They should not just look at data and say “cases here are low so it’s okay.” It can’t be just like that.)
“Dapat, una yun, titingnan nila kung saan ang mababa ang Covid o wala. Pangalawa, ay dapat kailangan ang magandang ugnayan para masigurado yung pagsunod sa minumum health protocols,” he added.
(They should first look at Covid data. Then, there should be proper coordination to ensure that minimum health protocols will be followed.)
President Rodrigo Duterte has thumbed down a new proposal to resume in-person classes as the country’s mass immunization program against Covid-19 remains pending.