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P8 MONday | march 16, 2020

NCR execs told to defer road clearing ops; focus on COVID

DILG Secretary Eduardo Año. FILE PHOTO

MANILA – The Department of the Interior and Local Gov-ernment (DILG) ordered local chief executives in Metro Ma-nila to suspend road clearing operations and concentrate on efforts to contain the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

"I want our LGUs (local government units), local chief executives to focus on this job so I suspend the road clear-ing operations for the time being and focus on this prob-lem of stopping the spread of the (COVID-19)," DILG Sec-retary Eduardo Año said in a radio interview Saturday night.

Last February 17, Año gave all barangay executives 75

days to clear roads of obstruc-tion, a directive spawned by President Rodrigo Duterte’s order during his last year’s State of the Nation Address.

Año also announced the suspension of cockfighting events and asked the local government units (LGUs) to refrain from issuing permits for these activities.

He also said LGU chief ex-ecutives in the National Capi-tal Region (NCR) will not be allowed to travel for the next 30 days.

"So they can focus on their jobs, we will suspend the for-eign travel (authority) appli-cation for them," Año said.

He also clarified that each Metro Manila city should have

its own ordinance on the im-plementation of a curfew in line with the region-wide community quarantine.

"Napagkaisahan ng 17 mayors na magsagawa sila ng isang resolution na kung saan magpapatupad ng curfew pare-has ang oras at implementa-tion, 8 p.m.to 5 a.m. at itong resolution na ito ay idudulog sa mga kani-kanilang Sang-guniang Panlungsod at by Monday maipapasa nila yung ordinansa then we can im-plement the curfew starting probably Monday magsimula na ito (All 17 mayors agreed to come up with the resolution to implement a uniform 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew. This resolu-tion will be tackled in their

respective City Councils and by Monday, they can pass an ordinance. So, we can expect that probably by Monday, it will start)," he said.

He added that workers will be exempted from the curfew hours.

Año also urged the peo-ple to stay at home as some of the cases of the Covid-19 were asymptomatic.

He also said strict pro-tocols would be enforced in checkpoints and urged peo-ple to report any abuse of officers.

Año said LGUs, however, have the power to enforce an enhanced community quar-antine which can also mean a total lockdown. PNA

Congress employee dies of COVID-19MANILA – An employee of the House of Representatives di-agnosed with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-2019) died early Sunday, according to PBA-Party-list Representa-tive Jericho Nograles.

Nograles said the em-ployee, who worked at the chamber’s printing depart-ment, passed away at 1:45 a.m..

“Sad news. The HRep em-ployee who was positive with COVID-19 passed away earlier

today (Sunday) at 1:45 a.m.. He was a friend who worked at the Printing Office, the son of those who work at the Com-mittee Affairs Department, and an in-law of someone from the IPRS (Inter-Parlia-mentary Relations Service),” Nograles told reporters in a group message.

“At this point, let’s take a moment and pray for his soul and his family. Let us also take time to reflect that our staff and secretariat, mem-

bers of the Press, visitors, and even Members could’ve been exposed. Let’s be mind-ful of any symptoms and do our part on the community quarantine guidelines,” he added.

House Secretary Gen-eral Luis Montales also con-firmed the first death linked to the coronavirus in the lower chamber of Congress.

Montales earlier said the staffer had no history of travel to any country with confirmed

cases of the deadly virus, and no known history of exposure to an infected person.

"To recall, the staff has been in and out of the hospital since last year for various ail-ments. The staff was recently confined for community-ac-quired pneumonia," Montales said.

House Speaker Alan Pe-ter Cayetano has suspended work in the lower chamber from March 16 to April 12. PNA

PCOO, PTV to lead public briefing on COVID-19

MANILA – The Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) in partnership with state-run People’s Televi-sion Network (PTV) is work-ing on a program that will help address questions and concerns by the public and clarify government reports on the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) situation in the country.

PCOO Secretary Martin Andanar met with officials of the television station on Saturday to discuss the Lag-ing Handa public briefing, a 30-minute television-radio program.

This will air on weekdays starting 11:30 a.m. today, Monday.

“This program is about answering the queries of our kababayans (fellow country-men). Let’s give more weight to the people para maramda-man nila na present tayo (so they will know that we are pre-sent),” he said.

Under the program, hosts from the head agency will present the sourced questions from the citizens, local and overseas, which will then be answered by guest spokesper-

sons coming from concerned agencies.

He said this version of Lag-ing Handa is “embracing the whole-of-nation approach of the President”.

“It is not just a Laging Handa here in Metro Manila, but a Laging Handa in every region,” he noted.

While PTV will lead the said program, Andanar also di-rected other attached agencies to trumpet the program to en-sure that it will reach a greater number of audience. It will be livestreamed in their social media accounts, including their regional counterparts.

“The PTV will take the lead but I want everybody to pitch in,” he said.

Also present during the meeting were officials and representatives of the Phil-ippine Information Agency (PIA), Philippine Broadcasting Service (PBS), and Radio Tel-evision Malacañang (RTVM).

He also bared that they are considering the possibility of partnering with television networks under the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipi-nas (KBP) for the streaming of the program.

Imposition of NCR-wide curfew up to Duterte: PalaceMANILA — The implemen-tation of a curfew in Metro Manila to contain the spread of 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) will still be sub-ject to President Rodrigo Du-terte’s approval, Malacañang said on Saturday.

This comes after Metro Manila mayors sought a nine-hour curfew to prevent further infections of COVID-19.

Presidential Spokesper-son Salvador Panelo said Duterte has yet to act on the proposed region-wide cur- few.

“The Metro Manila May-ors’ recommendation to im-pose a curfew in Metro Manila is subject to the approval of the President. The President has yet to consider it,” Panelo said in a statement.

Metro Manila mayors agreed to implement the daily curfew during the implemen-tation of community quaran-tine in the region from March 15 to April 14.

Panelo said that in the meantime, each local govern-ment unit (LGU) can pass an ordinance to impose curfew within their respective terri-tories.

“The LGUs can impose curfew within their territories if an ordinance is passed im-posing it,” he said.

Mayors in Metro Manila wanted to impose a daily cur-few for one month as part of the government’s efforts to fight COVID-19.

The plan is to place Metro Manila under curfew from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. until the com-

munity quarantine ends to restrict movements in public spaces.

The curfew, however, ex-empts doctors, health per-sonnel, and people delivering food.

Malacañang on Fri-day signed a memorandum, mandating all local govern-ment units in Metro Manila to strictly implement “gen-

eral” community quarantine in their respective jurisdic-tions from March 15 to April 14.

A “general” community quarantine limits people’s movement to “accessing ba-sic necessities and work” and orders uniformed personnel and quarantine personnel to be present at border points. PNA

COMMUTING AMID COVID-19. Passengers of the MRT-3 keep their distance from one another on Saturday (March 14, 2020). The government has ordered social distancing measures in public transport as part of efforts to contain the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the country. GIL CALINGA/PNA