Police will now call out people holding hands, embracing, or kissing in public to help curb the continued rise of COVID-19.
In an interview in Camp Crame Wednesday, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Debold Sinas said they would call out people who engaged in public displays of affection (PDA) because national and local authorities were alarmed at the spike in COVID-19 cases.
“We cannot afford to lower our guard against the virus, especially at this point when the cure is already within reach,” he said—referring to vaccines that have begun to arrive.
The PNP directive covers everyone, not just couples, PNP spokesman Brig. Gen. Ildebrandi Usana said.
The restriction is part of granular, localized moves that hope to stem the so-called spike in coronavirus cases without the government ordering a stricter lockdown such as an enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), which led to a steep dive for the economy.
Although most of the country is under a modified general community quarantine (MGCQ), measures implemented during the ECQ, such as longer curfew hours, restrictions on parties and the sale of liquor, and quarantine passes to go to public markets are being rolled out once again by local governments.
On Wednesday, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) called on Metro Manila’s mayors to adopt uniform curfew hours across the 16 cities and one municipality of the region.
In a news release, the DILG said adopting uniform curfew hours would make it easier for the public to comply because people tend to live and work in different cities.
The DILG said it would leave it to the mayors to decide what hours the curfew would cover.
Despite the dramatic increase in new cases – active cases in the National Capital Region have doubled to over 7,700 in the last two weeks — the Department of Health advised against describing the situation as a “surge.”
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said during an online briefing that “cases of people going to the hospital [emergency rooms] are increasing, but we need scientific evidence to say there is really a surge.” She said hospital bed capacity is still at a manageable level.
The DOH, however, expressed concern regarding the transmission of COVID-19 within families, urging those who have tested positive for the disease to recuperate in a facility instead of at home if they live in close quarters with their family.
“[T]he virus, especially the variants, are very transmissible and highly infectious, and that’s the reason they’re often seen in clusters in families and even in communities,” said Health Undersecretary Leopoldo Vega.
Hospitals are also seeing more cases of COVID-19 among children, a possible result of clustering in families.
According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, 27.2 percent or nearly a third of Metro Manila’s residents live in homes less than 20 square meters in size.
This makes social distancing when at home with a sick individual very difficult, especially if bathrooms are shared.
Usana said police officers do not have the time to ask persons if they are couples and are living in one house.
“If they are seen hugging or placing one’s hand on another’s shoulder and are very close to each other, (that is an) automatic violation,” he said.
Physical intimacy in public violates health and safety protocols set by the government, he added.
Usana said police officers will not arrest couples caught in public displays of affection, but would be given a warning on the first offense.
Succeeding offenses will be sanctioned based on existing ordinances of the local governments in which the violation took place.
Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto ridiculed the new PNP directive, calling it a “war on love, not COVID-19.”
“If all acts of public display of affection are prohibited—harmless kisses, holding hands, hugs—then the rules border on the absurd,” he said.
“Communication is an important tool in fighting the pandemic. Words can move—and frighten—a nation. When you wield a loud microphone, don’t treat it like a police whistle you can blow anytime,” he added.
Senator Risa Hontiveros rejected government plans to deploy military and police officials to arrest people who breach health protocols.
Hontiveros called out the militaristic approach to the pandemic, saying it is “a repeat of the mistakes of the past.”
During the world’s longest lockdown, she said police arrested 76,000 people for breaching protocols between March 2020 to July 2020, but this did not bring cases down.
“If we will deploy policemen, they should be giving out face masks, face shields, or reminding people about physical distancing and proper handwashing,” she said. “They should not be arresting [people] and abusing their powers.”
She said using uniformed personnel to enforce safety protocols was an ineffective and anti-poor strategy.
She cited the case of the five youths arrested in Laguna at the start of the lockdown who were detained together in a dog cage.
Others like Senators Christopher Go and Panfilo Lacson urged the public to cooperate with the authorities and to comply with health protocols.
“We are under a state of public health emergency by virtue of Presidential Proclamation 922. The country is still struggling to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic,” Lacson said.
Given the noticeable spike in the past few days, the government must use its police power under the Constitution to make sure that the further spread of the virus is prevented or controlled, said Lacson, a former police chief.
Public Works Secretary and isolation czar Mark Villar said the government is continuing to put up quarantine facilities. From the current 604 facilities with 22,000 beds, it is aiming for 720 facilities with 26,099 beds total by the end of April.
“Only twenty percent of the facilities are still in use so we still have the capacity in case we have a surge,” he said in Filipino.
The Philippines has 600,428 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 12,528 deaths as of Tuesday. In recent days the daily number of new cases have rocketed past 3,000.
In Manila, Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso ordered a lockdown in several villages to arrest an “alarming” rise in COVID-19 cases.
“So far, with the numbers we are seeing, it’s alarming and this should be addressed and this should be controlled,” Domagoso told ANC.
Barangays 351 and 725, as well as Malate Bayview Mansion and Hop Inn Hotel in Barangay 699 will be placed under a four-day lockdown beginning Thursday, March 11.
Increased mobility of people and complacency to COVID-19 protocols are among the reasons driving the surge, Moreno said.
The city mayor lamented that their months of reining in the COVID-19 spread had been wasted.
“What we endured for five months where we stabilized the number of infections was wasted in just two weeks,” he said.
But he said hospitals in Manila are still capable of handling the recent flare-up of COVID-19 infections.
In Pasay City, local enforcers arrested more than 1,600 people for violating health and safety protocols.
Mayor Imelda Rubiano said from March 1 to 9, the local police have already arrested a total of 1,654 violators based on the report submitted by Pasay City police commander Col. Cesar Paday-os.
Of those arrested, 1,064 were caught not wearing face masks, 270 for violating a curfew ordinance, 184 others for improperly wearing face shields, and 136 for not practicing social distancing in public places.
“I call on the public to follow the guidelines that we implement to fight the coronavirus disease and I encourage them to take the vaccines until we go back to our normal situation,” Rubiano said.
The city government deployed an additional 180 policemen to enforce the implementation of basic public health standards.
Rubiano directed the police commander and barangay officials to ensure residents follow the guidelines set by IATF and ordinances passed by the Pasay City council.
The city chief executive also reminded business establishments to ensure that their customers have face masks and to see to it that one of their personnel or security guards are checking physical distancing while queuing.
She said mass gatherings such as birthday celebrations are still disallowed.
The cities of Parañaque and San Juan have decided to adjust their curfew hours after a noticeable rise in active COVID-19 cases.
In Paranaque, Mayor Edwin Olivarez said the new curfew hours are from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. beginning Wednesday (March 10).