No lockdown, but Metro Manila, 4 nearby provinces placed in "bubble" - Palace
The Philippine government will place Metro Manila and four nearby provinces in a "bubble" for two weeks by allowing only essential travels as part of the measure to combat the rising cases of coronavirus disease in the country, Malacanang said on Sunday.
“We will have a bubble here in NCR (National Capital Region), provinces of Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in an announcement at state-run PTV 4.
He said President Rodrigo Duterte approved Resolution No. 104 issued by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases on Saturday, March 20, which contains various measures, including some restrictions, to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
The restrictions will be implemented from March 22 to April 4 this year, said Roque, who is also the spokesperson of the IATF.
He said there will be no lockdown contrary to speculations.
“There is no lockdown, the circuit breaker that is circulating is fake news. That is not true. Metro Manila will remain under GCQ (general community quarantine) including Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal,” Roque said.
Under the new guidelines, travels in areas covered by the bubble are allowed while travels outside are restricted, except for essential travels.
Roque said this is to prevent further spread of the virus, particularly the new variants, in the different parts of the country.
He said those who are allowed to enter and leave the areas within the bubble are the authorized persons outside of their residences. These include essential workers, health and emergency frontline services personnel, government officials and frontline personnel, duly-authorized humanitarian assistance actors, persons traveling for medical or humanitarian reasons, persons going to the airport for travel abroad, anyone crossing zones for work or business and going back home, returning overseas Filipinos and overseas Filipino workers.
Roque said workers just need to show their work ID.
With the new restrictions, traveling for the Holy Week break or on March 28 to April 3 is prohibited, he said. However, Roque assured that those who are already outside the bubble areas before March 22 can still enter as long as they have proof that they are living in Metro Manila or nearby provinces.
“There is no problem in going home because it is an essential travel. They just need to show their ID that will prove that they are a resident of Metro Manila. Right to travel is a constitutional right and we will not stop that because (going home) is included as essential travel but going outside for vacation is not allowed,” he said.
Just like in NCR, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal will also enforce 10pm to 5am curfew hours.
Roque said checkpoints will be installed in the boundaries of NCR and four provinces covered by the bubble to prevent unnecessary travels.
As of March 21, the Department of Health reported 7,757 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total cases to 663,794, including 577,754 recoveries and 12,968 deaths. Ella Dionisio/DMS
