Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte undergoes testing for Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, at the Malacanang Palace, Manila. Photo: AP
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https://scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3075163/coronavirus-dutertes-lockdown-manila-mockery-millions-commuters Politics
Coronavirus: Duterte’s lockdown of Manila is ‘a mockery’, as millions of commuters to be allowed in
- So many exemptions have been made to the ‘total’ ban on land, sea and air travel to the Philippine capital that the move no longer makes sense, expert says
- Commuters, business owners and government officials are among those who may be given a waiver
Passengers disembark from the metro in the Philippines. Photo: EPA
Hours after President Rodrigo Duterte dramatically announced a “lockdown” of the entire Metro Manila area to slow the spread of the coronavirus, his cabinet secretaries began to back-pedal with so many exemptions that observers said they had made a mockery of what was billed as a “total” ban on land, sea and air travel.
Commuters living outside Manila who could prove they worked in the capital would be among those exempt from the ban, the interior and local government secretary Eduardo Año told radio DZMM late on Thursday evening, in a move that appeared to clear the way for more than two million people to travel in and out of the capital on a daily basis.
“Business owners” would also be allowed in, said Año, following lobbying by the trade secretary Ramon Lopez and the finance secretary Carlos Dominguez.
And the exemptions didn’t stop there.
In a press conference on Friday morning, Lopez and the cabinet secretary Karlo Nograles said some government officials would also be granted a waiver, with all exemptions to be listed in a soon-to-be released “memo”.
Experts said so many exemptions meant locking down the Philippine capital, population 12.8 million, made little sense.
The measure would be “half-baked” and “defeat the purpose of a lockdown”, said Dr Anthony Leachon, a former president of the Philippine College of Physicians. He said that for any lockdown to be successful it needed to be “all or nothing”.
“Truly, it’s a mockery of community quarantine concept,” said Leachon.
However, he added: “I think President Rodrigo Duterte has the intention for a total lockdown but his cabinet secretaries are not ready [and they] yielded to the complaints of the public.”
How any exemptions will work is also unclear. Dr Edsel Salvana, an infectious disease expert who has been advising the government, said the details were still being negotiated.
Senator Risa Hontiveros of the Akbayan party said there was “a lot to clarify” about the measures, and urged the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases to immediately release specific guidelines.
“The Filipino people have been expecting a cohesive plan from our leaders. They deserve and need the government to exercise competent leadership in order to shepherd us out of this pandemic,” said Hontiveros.
Meanwhile, Vice-President Leni Robredo issued a statement urging the national government to “ensure that communities have enough provisions, especially for the poor”.
When Duterte announced the “lockdown” on Thursday he had suggested all land, domestic air and domestic sea travel to and from the region would be suspended from Sunday until April 14, while mass gatherings would also be banned.
However, he said Filipino workers hoping to return to jobs in China would be allowed to travel there, except for Hubei province, the area of the country hit hardest by the virus. He said they would need to sign a declaration that they understood the risks involved.
A worker sprays disinfectant at a school which has suspended classes as a precautionary measure against the new coronavirus in San Juan city, east of Manila. Photo: AP
As for people trying to enter the Philippines as a whole, he said “restrictions shall be imposed upon those travelling from countries with localised transmissions, except for Filipino citizens including foreign spouses and children, holders of permanent residence visas, and holders of diplomatic visas”.
He said foreigners whose country of origin had already issued travel restrictions on their own citizens would also be barred from entering.
But at the press conference hosted by Nograles and Lopez it appeared that not all restrictions were set in stone.
Both Nograles and Lopez insisted the latest measures were an instance of “community quarantine” rather than a lockdown. They ignored a reporter who pointed out that Duterte himself had said “it’s a lockdown”.
There was further confusion when a reporter asked if wedding receptions would be banned outright.
Nograles replied “yes”, but Lopez said a couple could have 50 guests at most. The question followed an announcement by the actors Richard Gutierrez and Sarah Lahbati that they would postpone the lavish wedding ceremony they had planned for this Saturday.