Enact `new normal’ ordinances, DILG orders LGU
The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) on Tuesday had tasked local government units (LGU) to put in place ordinances that would make discipline as the `new normal’ and as a non-medical initiative amid the country’s fight against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
According to DILG Secretary Eduardo Año, the directive is in relation to the agency’s broader ‘Disiplina Muna’ campaign.
“Now that the government is easing quarantine restrictions to balance public health with the need to reopen the economy, we must institute measures to promote discipline and individual responsibility among our people through local legislation,” he said Tuesday.
The DILG Chief said these ordinances that prescribe discipline includes following health safety protocols like the mandatory wearing of face masks in public, sanitizing hands, doing at least one-meter physical distancing, observing cough etiquette, and staying at home for children and senior citizens.
According to DILG Secretary Eduardo Año, the directive is in relation to the agency’s broader ‘Disiplina Muna’ campaign.
“I encourage LGUs from the provincial to barangay councils to make use of their legislative power to enact ordinances on ‘discipline as the new normal’ to beat COVID-19. By instituting individual discipline, we can defeat COVID-19,” he pointed out.
Año likewise reminded the public about the warning issued by the World Health Organization (WHO) warning that the deadly virus is merely biding its time and waiting for people to let their guards down.
The WHO further stressed said that a resurgence of the viral respiratory diseases may occur even in countries which logged no new cases recently and advised people to take extra precautions to avoid the three Cs: confined and closed spaces with poor ventilation, crowded places, and closecontact settings especially where people have close-range conversations.
The DILG Secretary then backed the recommendation made by Joint Task Force COVID Shield Commander Lt. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar for LGU to have an ordinance to sustain public health safety measures and foster shared responsibility for COVID-free communities as there are not enough police forces available to keep watch on all citizens.
“His proposal is good. It’s true that the police cannot police everyone all the time. Police can’t do it alone in making sure that all continue to follow health safety practices. Every Filipino must do his responsibility. If there’s an ordinance, it imposes a duty to obey, involves a sanction, promotes order, and benefits all,” he stated.