Solons call for ‘staggered lifting’ of lockdown, ECQ extension

MANILA, Philippines — While two congressmen backed the extension of the Luzon-wide community quarantine, a lawmaker from Cebu is appealing for a “staggered lifting” of the lockdown aimed to contain the further spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

In a statement on Monday, Cebu City 2nd District Rep. Rodrigo Abellanosa said the country’s COVID-19 inter-agency task force should employ a staggered lifting of the enhanced community quarantine by implementing localized quarantines instead.

“This Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) has brought together the clashing issues on controlling the spread of the COVID-19 virus, the resultant massive unemployment, public health and nutrition consequences, and the inadequacies of the government to feed millions of people,” Abellanosa said.

He said his proposal would offer a “partial win-win solution.”

“Instead of bugging ourselves with the issue on whether to lift or not to lift the ECQ, may I propose a staggered lifting of ECQ by concurrently transforming it into localized lockdowns or local quarantines – by barangays or clusters of puroks or sitios; and by employment communities such as construction, food production, food processing, manufacturing, call centers, building maintenance, and the like,” he explained.

Further, the lawmaker proposed that food deliveries and public transportation be allowed to operate but only within the local quarantines.

Proper authorities must persuade supermarkets, big grocery stores, and food wholesalers to hire out-of-work drivers, cashiers, and baggers and to lease standby jeepneys, trucks, and buses to set up mobile stores in local quarantines, he added.

He said this would minimize the confusion and problems arising from the issuance of quarantine passes for people to access stores outside of the local quarantines.

Abellanosa said police and law enforcers must actively discourage residents from going out of their local quarantines in order to effectively contain and isolate the local quarantines from each other except for health and medical reasons and the delivery of government aids but also ensure the unhampered movement of all food and non-food cargoes.

“We understand the public health and safety is the foremost concern of the government. But we need to come up with more creative solutions to containing this disease while ensuring that our people continue to have access to and afford basic necessities,” Abellanosa said.

Extend ECQ

Meanwhile, Albay 1st District Rep. Edcel Lagman said the government “must seriously consider the urgency of conducting mass testing for COVID-19 infection in its decision whether or not to extend the lockdown policy in the National Capital Region (NCR), the rest of Luzon, and elsewhere in the country.”

“It would be extremely difficult to implement initial selective and subsequent comprehensive mass testing in a dispersed and mobile population,” Lagman said in a separate statement.

“The projected start of mass testing after the lockdown expiration will be counter-productive,” he added.

According to Lagman, the remaining days before the scheduled lifting of the enhanced community quarantine would “not be sufficient” to “adequately conduct mass testing even for selected cases of persons under investigation (PUIs) and persons under monitoring (PUMs).”

President Rodrigo Duterte placed the entire Luzon under an enhanced community quarantine as the number of COVID-19 cases in the country continues to increase.

The quarantine became effective on March 17 and will be lifted on April 13.

“Stemming the spread of the novel coronavirus is very complicated and cannot be answered by isolation and social distancing alone because so many COVID-19 cases are asymptomatic,” Lagman said.

“These patients can unknowingly be virus hotbeds and contribute to the more rapid spread of the disease, thus making mass testing more crucial,” he added.

He, however, stressed that “any extension must be coupled with continued social amelioration packages for the disadvantaged sectors and displaced workers as well as a steady food supply.”

House Minority Leader Bienvenido Abante Jr. also joined calls to extend the enhanced community quarantine.

“I concur with my good friend and colleague, Rep. Salceda when he says we should look at the data and heed the input of our scientists and medical professionals,” said the lawmaker.

Abante was referring to Albay 2nd District Rep. Joey Salceda, who wanted to extend the quarantine for another two weeks, noting that a “premature lifting of the ECQ would not be good for the economy.”

Abante said that “whatever decisions we make regarding this outbreak should factor in the numbers and should take into consideration the experiences of other nations that have grappled with this pandemic.”

“Containing this outbreak should be our number one priority, and data from all over the world shows that measures such as the ECQ are effecting in reducing the transmission of the virus. So let us continue doing this until the data shows it is safe for us to live the ECQ,” he said.

The lawmaker further urged the government to step up the distribution of subsidies to underprivileged families “in order to ensure that no one goes hungry while they are forced by circumstances to stay indoors.”

To date, Philippine health officials have confirmed 3,660 COVID-19 cases in the country.

Of the number, 163 have died while 73 have recovered.