MANILA, Philippines — Cavite Governor Jonvic Remulla apologized on Monday for his social media post blaming the public for the long queues in checkpoints amid the enforcement of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ).
“Humihingi po ako ng paumanhin kung antipatiko ang dating ko sa last post re checkpoint,” he said in a Facebook post.
(I apologize if my last post about checkpoints sounded offensive.)
“Ang stress level ko po ay lagpas ulo na. Ang mga hospitals natin ay lagpas sa 30 frontliners na ang COVID-positive. Ang testing lab po natin sa DLSU-HSI (De La Salle Medical and Health Sciences Institute) ay kasalukuyang baldado. Halos kalahati sa mga tao doon ay COVID-positive,” he added.
(My stress level is very high. There are more than 30 frontliners who are COVID-19 positive in our hospitals. Our testing lab in DLSU-HSI is currently paralyzed. Almost half of the people there are COVID-19 positive.)
Remulla was referring to his Facebook post on Saturday, wherein he pointed out that the “checkpoint bottleneck” amid the implementation of ECQ is the same as in 2020.
He said he thought that enforcing an ECQ is enough for people to understand that they should stay at home because it is dangerous to go outside.
“Pero ano ang nangyari? Aba pareho ang checkpoint bottleneck katulad sa 2020 ngunit dahil walang Q-Pass (quarantine pass) ang akala ng iba ay malaya na silang makakalabas katulad noong MGCQ (modified general community quarantine),” Remulla said.
(But what happened? The checkpoint bottleneck is the same as in 2020, but because there is no Q-pass, everyone thought they were free to go outside as in the MGCQ.)
“Resulta? Katakot-takot na traffic ang inaabot ng ating mga essential commuters (The result? Heavy traffic for essential commuters),” he added.
Some netizens, however, pointed out in the comment section that people still need to leave home to work and have food on their table.
In response, Remulla said in his Monday post that “it is very difficult to navigate this unprecedented crisis” and that they are only following directives from the national government.
He also vowed to be more sensitive to the plight of the people.
“I promise to be even more sensitive and mindful with regards to how everyone is coping. I should have realized that many are having a hard time,” Remulla said.