Malacañang on Thursday warned government executives that they will be punished if they are caught violating COVID-19 protocols.
“We try as much as possible to enforce the law as equally as we can. I think the message is there has to be equal treatment [under] the law there. No matter your position, whether you’re in public or private service, the law… has to be applied equally,” Nograles said in a television interview.
A number of government officials, including Palace spokesman Harry Roque and Philippine National Police chief Gen. Debold Sinas tested positive for the coronavirus.
Roque said he did not know where he got the virus while Sinas admitted he might have contracted the virus in one of his official visits to Cebu province.
Both officials have been criticized in the past for flouting COVID-19 health protocols.
“Public officials are accountable to the Civil Service Commission and other laws, where they can be made liable for civil, criminal, and administrative complaints. They can also face charges from the Ombudsman for graft cases,” Nograles said.
“Anybody can file a case against any public official they feel is breaking the law or not following protocols,” he said.
Roque, who is also the spokesman for the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF), said Thursday the government is considering a temporary ban on the entry of all foreigners due to the surge in COVID-19 cases.
Currently, foreigners are allowed to enter the country if they already have visas or have visas issued upon the recommendation of a government agency to which their work is related.
The proposed expansion of travel restrictions will be discussed by the IATF, Roque said.
The government will ban foreigners and returning citizens except overseas workers from entering the country for a month from Saturday until April 19 amid increasing coronavirus cases, Roque said.
Roque also said that the government has already ruled that only 1,500 incoming passengers could be allowed to enter the country per day as part of the travel restrictions.
Senators on Thursday questioned the basis for the 1,500-passenger cap.
“Three hundred sixty-five days after COVID-19 came to us, our policies are still confusing. The basis for the 1,500 cap is still not clear. That is why people tend not to follow directives because they do not understand,” Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said.
Drilon also questioned the limit on foreign arrivals, saying it would be ineffective to stop the surge in COVID-19 cases since returning Filipino workers would just opt for other airports such as those in Cebu and Clark to return home.
He also said that instead of using the trust fund of Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, the government should authorize the use of the contingent fund to repatriate about 500,000 returning workers.
Senator Francis Tolentino raised concerns over how to enforce the policy, asking which airline should have a cap of 1,500 Filipinos and which stopover would force the disembarkation of Filipinos.
Senator Joel Villanueva said the enforcement amounts to an admission by the government that our quarantine, testing and contact tracing programs are not working.
“Many are already in line. We will only allow the landing of five Airbus 350s at NAIA everyday,” said Villanueva.
“It’s like they want our countrymen to go through a funnel,” he said in Filipino.
Also on Thursday, the city government said more than 2,000 people violated curfew in Manila during the first two days of its implementation.
Data from the Manila Public Information Office (MPIO) showed that 1,139 curfew violators were recorded as of 5 a.m. on March 16. Of the number, 926 were adults while 213 are minors.
Meanwhile, 1,023 violators of the curfew ordinance were documented as of 5 a.m. on March 17. This included 112 minors and 911 adults.
Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso said those who breach the curfew will be penalized by having to do exercises instead of being jailed.
Domagoso also posted a video on his official Facebook page, showing some curfew violators conducting physical exercises while wearing face masks.
Manila is imposing another curfew for minors, which is from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m.
This is different from the unified curfew in Metro Manila curfew for adults aged 18 years old and above, set from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.