MANILA, Philippines — Manila Mayor Isko Moreno on Wednesday criticized the “unlimited” community quarantine being enforced by the government since the COVID-19 pandemic started last year.
During his speech at the Baseco Compound in Tondo Manila where he formally announced his presidential bid, Moreno said that while other countries have applied best practices to manage the pandemic, the Philippines “experimented” with quarantine classifications.
“Other countries applied best practices, conducted field trials of scientific solutions. We, on the other hand, have used our people as guinea pigs in the longest and strictest experiment of unli-quarantines,” said Moreno.
“Five hundred fifty-seven days na po tayong nasa quarantine (We have been in quarantine for 557 days) but instead of flattening the curve, we have flattened our economy. Yet many people continue flatlining in our hospitals without beds, doctors, medicine, and sadly, even without oxygen,” he added.
The national government has been imposed community quarantines since March 2020. At present, granular lockdowns with an alert level system to determine the types of establishments allowed to operate and at what capacity is being pilot tested in Metro Manila.
Moreno said he will soon release the list of programs that he wants to implement should he win in the presidential race. He said many of these programs have been pilot tested in Manila.