(INQUIRER.NET PHOTO/DENNIS MALIWANAG)
MANILA, Philippines — While the 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew will be uniformly implemented in Metro Manila, the penalties to be imposed on violators would depend on each city council, Marikina City Mayor Marcelino Teodoro said Friday.
Teodoro said that the penalties to be imposed on curfew violators was not tackled during the meeting of Metro Manila mayors where it was agreed that a uniform curfew will be implemented starting March 15 to curb rising COVID-19 infections in the capital region.
The curfew will last for two weeks.
“Unfortunately we’re not able to arrive at that decision. We’re leaving that to the Council, the City Council of the various LGUs to decide,” Teodoro said in an interview on ABS-CBN News Channel.
For instance, Teodoro said that in Marikina City, fines will not be imposed due to financial woes faced by residents due to the pandemic.
“Mahirap ang buhay e, alam natin ito. Walang ibibigay, walang ipambabayad kaya we resort to alternative penalty like a community service or we let people who violated to stay in an area and undergo an orientation and briefing on the importance of observance of minimum public health standard,” Teodoro said.
Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) chairperson Benhur Abalos on Thursday said that the curfew was one of the measures agreed upon by Metro Manila mayors, aside from aggressive testing and contact-tracing.
He also revealed that they reached the decision following the increase in new cases.
From February 2 to 10, Metro Manila contributed just eight percent of the country’s new COVID-19 cases, but it is now at 60 percent — causing alarm among local executives.