NCRPO: Minors still prohibited in malls under GCQ

MANILA, Philippines — Minors in areas under general community quarantine (GCQ) such as Metro Manila are still prohibited to go to malls, National Capital Region Police Office chief Brig. Gen. Vicente Danao said Tuesday.

This ran contrary to Interior Secretary Eduardo Año’s earlier pronouncement that minors, or those below 15 years old, will be allowed to go to malls as long as they are accompanied by their parents or guardians.

Danao said only authorized persons outside homes (APOR) or essential workers would be allowed inside shopping centers.

“Hindi pa po allowed ‘yan [minors sa malls] sa GCQ,” he said in an interview over ABS-CBN’s TeleRadyo when asked about children being allowed in malls.

(Minors in malls are still not allowed in GCQ.)

“We’ll be having a meeting with mall managers na hindi pa rin po ia-allow ‘yung pagpapasok ng non-APOR kasi we’ll be expecting an influx ng mga tao diyan sa loob ng mga malls and other places of convergence,” he added.

(We’ll be having a meeting with mall managers to not allow the entry of non-APOR because we will be expecting an influx of people in malls and other places of convergence.)

“So para po makaiwas ng threat sa COVID-19 ay mas maganda po siguro wag na lang po muna,” Danao further said.

(So to avoid the threat of COVID-19, it is better that minors not be allowed yet.)

As of writing time, INQUIRER.net has sought clarification from Año for this protocol.

As of Nov. 30, the Philippines recorded 431,630 COVID-19 cases, with 398,658 recoveries and 8,392 deaths.

JE