Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año said Tuesday the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) implemented starting August 6 would be stricter than before.
The DILG chief said quarantine violators would be arrested. In addition, cops would be deployed to areas with crowds and a history of violations.
“Mas mahigpit tayo ngayong ECQ na ‘to. Ang tawag nga natin hard lockdown… Kung may makikita diyan [na violator], talagang aarestuhin ng ating mga pulis,” he said.
(The ECQ now will be stricter. We call it a hard lockdown. The police will arrest violators of health protocols.)
Año said accosted ECQ violators would be arrested if they will ignore instructions. Meanwhile, penalties based on existing ordinances of local government units would be imposed.
Meanwhile, a longer curfew will be enforced in Metro Manila on August 6, 2021, starting with a more stringent enhanced community quarantine (ECQ).
Metropolitan Manila Development Authority chairperson Benhur Abalos said Monday that the curfew would be enforced from 8 p.m. until 4 a.m., beginning Friday (Aug. 6).
Philippine National Police chief Police General Guillermo Eleazar directed the National Capital Region Police Office said, “The strict border control and the longer curfew hours are but some of the necessary interventions to prevent the spread of the Delta variant of COVID-19.”
August ECQ in NCR will be stricter – Año
On June 15, the curfew was lifted in Metro Manila from 12 midnight to 4 a.m.
The National Capital Region (NCR) will be put back to the tightest lockdown because of the worsening COVID-19 situation due to the more contagious variant starting next Friday.
Meanwhile, Transportation Secretary Arthur announced the free-ride program for vaccinated APORs authorized persons outside of residence on Metro Rail Transit 3 (MRT-3), Light Rail Transit 2 (LRT-2), and Philippine National Railways (PNR) starting on August 3 to 20, 2021.
In a statement on Monday, Tugade said APORs only need to show their vaccination cards to prove that they have been vaccinated, even if it is only the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Meanwhile, the secretary also said that the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA), Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP), and Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) would provide free coffee, water, and snacks to vaccinated APORs and passengers waiting for their trips to airports and ports.
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