Marcos-Duterte team defers Metro Manila caravans
MANILA, Philippines — The team of presidential aspirant Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and his running mate Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte on Saturday asked their supporters to postpone their Metro Manila caravans in light of tighter restrictions in the capital region.
Their supporters from Caloocan were supposed to hold a “unity caravan” on Sunday but were urged to reset the event to a later date for everybody’s safety.
Metro Manila would be on alert level 3 from Jan. 3 to Jan. 15 because of the exponential increase in COVID-19 cases in the region and the high likelihood of the local transmission of the Omicron variant, according to the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases.
“We are also appealing to our supporters to suspend mass gatherings and obey the guidelines under the alert level 3,” the Marcos-Duterte team said in a statement.
Health experts have stressed anew the need to comply with health protocols given the highly transmissible nature of the Omicron variant.