Philippines extends virus quarantine on main island until April 30

PHILIPPINE President Rodrigo Duterte has approved the extension of the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) until April 30, the interagency task force on Covid19 announced on Tuesday.

Luzon is the Philippines’ largest and most populous island, with 57,470,097 residents, according to the 2015 census.

“The ECQ will be extended until 11:59pm on April 30 under President Duterte’s recommendation,” said Cabinet secretary Karlo Nograles, spokesperson of the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Disease.

Nograles said the guidelines governing the implementation of the quarantine would remain in effect unless changed by the president.

“Provided, that all exemptions granted by the Office of the President or the IATF shall continue to be in effect for the duration of the extended ECQ.

“Provided further that such extension of the ECQ shall be without prejudice to the discretion of the President to relax the implementation of the ECQ in some local jurisdictions or the granting of exemptions in favour of certain sectors, as public health considerations and food security may warrant,” he said.

Duterte, during his public address on Monday night, said the government is “inclined” to extend a strict quarantine measure.

The Luzon-wide lockdown, which placed about 110 million people under quarantine, was set to be lifted by midnight of April 13.

The extreme measure suspended public transportation, prohibited mass gatherings and even ordered the temporary closure of some businesses, excluding hospitals, groceries and drug stores, and other essential establishments.

Also on Monday, Duterte submitted to Congress the second report on his use of additional powers against the crisis.

The weekly report is part of the checks and balances measure under the “Bayanihan to Heal as One Act” which gave him additional powers to address the health crisis.

Duterte noted that a total of 594 persons have been arrested by authorities due to hoarding and/or profiteering and manipulation of prices of basic commodities amid the price freeze being enforced as the country grapples with the crisis, citing data from the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG).

Duterte also reported that the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) have jointly conducted 110 operations that led to the arrest of 96 persons for violations of various consumer, food, drug, price and cybercrime laws.

To ensure the availability of basic necessities and prime commodities at a reasonable price, the DTI launched 1,289 monitoring activities from March 28 to April 1 where 5,192 firms were monitored with 97 per cent compliance.

The trade department has processed 427 online complaints, endorsed 250 complaints to various agencies, issued 140 letters of inquiry and four notices of violation to various retailers with one formal charge.

A total of 544 campaigns against hoarding and profiteering through the efforts of the Fair Trade Enforcement Bureau, resulted in 64 arrests, Duterte told Congress.

The president also mentioned the March 31 raids of the Bureau of Customs and Philippine Coast Guard which yielded an estimated 15 million pesos ($300,000) worth of smuggled personal protective equipment.

As of April 2, Duterte said, a total of 1,533 Local Price Coordination Councils nationwide have been activated to closely monitor the prices and supply of basic necessities and prime commodities.