Coronavirus Lockdown: Possible Murder Raps, the Worst is Not Over, and More!

More news about how the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines is being handled by the public and the government.

By know we all know the Philippines has had in place the longest running lockdown in the world. The worst thing about this lockdown is that it is not static. It rotates. So one day you might have to do business in a town and suddenly you can't because they have shut everything down. Iloilo City is the latest city to revert back to MECQ.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1142237

This highly urbanized city’s (HUC) modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) classification is extended until June 15, 2021 as cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) continue to climb.

Mayor Jerry P. Treñas on Tuesday signed Executive Order number 50 extending the MECQ status of Iloilo City in compliance to Resolution Number 118-A of the national Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases showing the new quarantine classification of provinces and cities on May 31.

In the EO, the observance of the curfew hours from 10 p.m. until 4 a.m. is extended.

The city-wide border control that restricts entry and exit points to and from the city except for purposes of work, medical needs, accessing government services, transport of goods and/or construction materials, humanitarian purposes also continues.

Se what they did? They extended what was supposed to be a one week restriction for 15 more days! This put a huge burden on everyone including those from without the city who need to do business in Iloilo as the mayor has asked the RIATF to halt all travel from Negros Occidental and has reimposed the quarantine pass system.

Cagayan de Oro has also reimposed quarantine passes.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1440744/quarantine-passes-required-anew-for-cagayan-de-oro-residents

The local government here has again required every resident going out of their homes to present a quarantine pass after the national government placed the city under modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) from June 1 to 15.

Under the MECQ guidelines, only frontline health personnel and workers in government and private establishments who are deemed authorized persons outside of residence (APOR) are generally allowed outside of homes.

Others may go out for essential purposes as long as they have a Barangay Exit Pass issued by the city government and distributed through the village governments.

Like Iloilo City this measure is only until June 15th but these madmen, and they are madmen who have destroyed the economy and people's livelihoods in a way that no other country has done, will likely extend it just like MECQ has been extended in the NCR Plus area. Davao City is also seeking to return to the dreadful MECQ for 25 days.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1440889/davao-city-seeks-stricter-curbs-amid-virus-surge

In an announcement posted on its social media page on Wednesday, the city asked for the declaration of a modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) from June 5 to June 30 to serve as “a circuit breaker in the surge of patients inside hospitals.”

It also advised residents and businesses to review the guidelines for the new classification while waiting for the approval of its appeal.

Davao City is under a general community quarantine (GCQ) status despite a spike in new COVID-19 cases, which on Tuesday, registered an all time high of 338 cases in a day, according to data from the Department of Health (DOH).

Dr. Ricardo Audan, Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) acting chief, on Monday compared the atmosphere at the hospital’s emergency section to a “midnight sale” at the mall because of the number of people swarming the section.

“Sobrang masikip (It’s too crammed),” Audan said, adding that the hospital already converted part of its outpatient department into an emergency section extension to deal with the problem.

Health-care workers are also suffering from fatigue as the demand for health services in both public and private hospitals continue to grow.

Total COVID-19 cases in the city reached 17,337 on Tuesday, with 1,912 classified as active, the DOH said. Five persons died of COVID-related complications on Tuesday, raising the total death toll here to 760.

Wow. Davao has really been hit hard. 760 people out of 17337 have died. That's a whole whopping 4.3%!!! And five realty died of "COVID-related complications" which means "NOT COVID ALONE." So what is the real death toll from COVID? The IATF has granted Davao's request to downgrade the city to MECQ from June 5th-25th.

The DICT says for sure a vaccine passport is going to be issued for foreign travelers. That should be no surprise. We all know that kind of thing is coming.  The Bureau of Immigration says they back the plan to allow fully vaccinated foreigners into he country to alleviate the country's tourism woes. It's funny because the science says being vaccinated is no guarantee one is not carrying the virus or that one cannot be infected. But the government seems to not care about science despite saying they do.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1142475

In a virtual presser, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said studies have shown that wearing a face shield on top of a face mask can help further reduce the transmission of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) in the country.

“It is a scientific fact that the wearing of both masks and face shields contribute substantially to the reduction of Covid-19 cases,” said Roque, also acting as IATF-EID spokesperson.

It's always great how these people NEVER, EVER back up their "scientific facts" with any kind of studies. Here's a study for everyone to read:

https://today.wayne.edu/medicine/news/2021/03/03/plastic-face-shields-add-little-protection-to-face-masks-study-finds-41633

“Surprisingly, when assessing the combined protection of surgical mask and face shield, the level of protection was not enhanced in comparison to using surgical masks alone,” said Teena Chopra, M.D., M.P.H., professor of Internal Medicine, Infectious Diseases, for the Wayne State University School of Medicine, and lead author of the study. “This result reinforces the fact that a surgical mask serves as an effective intervention, providing protection from aerosol droplets that spread COVID-19.”

When will the madness end? The mandated wearing of face shields must come to an end. It is unscientific, stupid, and a burden to all as we must pay dress up just to leave the house.

The government has done a bang up job when it comes to the pandemic. Specifically they have been adept at scaring the heck out of people.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1441422/more-filipinos-take-back-previous-belief-that-worst-of-covid-19-is-over-sws

Also, the number of those who believe that the worst is yet to come in this pandemic has increased — from just 31 percent in November 2020 to 49 percent in May 2021 — just eight percentage points shy of the 57 percent recorded in July 2020.

According to the SWS report, 89 percent of those surveyed are still worried about catching the disease, while 11 percent are either worried a little or not worried at all.

From confidence that the worst was over to fear that the worst is yet to come and that they might get infected! It's all because the government has been imposing crippling lockdowns wiping out economic gains on a random, rotating basis and imposing health protocols, like wearing face shields, which are not based on science. Add to that the government continually blaming the public for the increase in cases and threatening them with arrest and burdensome fines for not wearing masks and shields properly. No wonder people are scared. That's how the government wants them.

If you think the government's rules regarding COVID could get any more confusing and stupid well, here's something that fits both those categories.

https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/06/04/21/quarantine-fully-vaccinated-covid-filipinos-iatf

The inter-agency task force leading the country's COVID-19 response said on Friday travelers who are fully vaccinated against the novel coronavirus are required to undergo a 7-day quarantine upon entering the Philippines.  

"All inbound fully vaccinated individuals shall be required to undergo a 7-day facility-based quarantine upon arrival. The BOQ (Bureau of Quarantine) shall ensure strict symptom monitoring while in the quarantine facility for 7 days," said IATF and Malacañang spokesman Harry Roque.  

The new rules will apply to travelers who were fully vaccinated in the Philippines, Roque said in a text message. 

The 7-day quarantine protocols do not cover overseas Filipinos workers who were fully vaccinated abroad and would go home to the Philippines. They have to stay 10 days at a quarantine facility upon returning to the Philippines, he said. 

This stupid and confusing rule only applies to those who were vaccinated here in the Philippines, choose to go abroad, and return. It does not apply to foreigners or anyone else who was vaccinated abroad. Totally dumb. And they still have to quarantine despite being vaccinated!  That's because the vaccine does not immunize anyone from the virus. So why even take it? 

The goal of the government is to vaccinate seniors, the indigent, and other vulnerable groups. But if you are a famous actor you can get your whole family vaccinated and the DILG will turn their head.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1441526/dilg-sees-no-violation-in-vaccination-of-muhlach-family-in-muntinlupa-city

In a statement on Friday, DILG Undersecretary and spokesperson Jonathan Malaya said that the Muntinlupa City local government unit told the department that the Mulach family are qualified to be vaccinated under the protocols set by the Department of Health. 

“They are bona-fide residents of Muntinlupa City. They enrolled at the MUNCOVAC registration portal under A3 category,” Malaya said. 

“Most importantly, they submitted medical certificates/clearance from their attending physician at Asian Hospital and Medical Center to prove that they have comorbidities. The medical certificate was verified by the Muntinlupa City Health Office with the said hospital,” he added.

Very, very interesting that this actor and his two children and wife all have "comorbidities" which allowed them to sneak to the head of the line to get a vaccine which does not immunize you from the virus. No word on what diseases they have. Could be anything from diabetes to hypertension to heart disease to obesity!

Bacolod City appears to have become a police state. The government now disallows home isolation. IF one refuses to go to a government quarantine facility they could face criminal charges.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1142631

The city’s Emergency Operations Center-Task Force (EOC) on Friday warned that they will file a police report against individuals refusing to be taken to the isolation facilities after testing positive for the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).

“We will file a police blotter for those refusing to be extracted,” said Executive Assistant Ernesto Pineda, extraction cluster head of the EOC-TF.

The concern was discussed during the EOC-TF’s virtual huddle where Pineda pointed out that the patient’s continued stay in his or her residence will cause exposure of the household members, resulting in the spread of infection to more people.

He cited Section 9 of the Republic Act 11332, otherwise known as the “Law on Reporting of Communicable Diseases” as the basis in addressing instances when the patient refuses to cooperate.

It refers to the non-cooperation of the person or entities identified as having the notifiable disease or health events of public concern.

"Those refusing to be extracted." That is totalitarian language. Now a man is not safe even in own house. How does that raise trust in the government or in the vaccine for that matter? 

The DILG says they recorded 50,000 face mask violations during the week of May 31st - June 6th. Duterte says because of this he might have to impose harsher measures. 

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1442987/i-cant-say-what-but-we-can-place-stricter-measures-to-curb-covid-19

“We might calibrate our response to the intransigence that you will show.  It’s up to you. Then we can go into… there are many things. I could — I just don’t want to say it, but we have the power to control it actually if we want to make it hard for people,” Duterte said, speaking partly in Filipino.

As always it's just a vague "we might" with absolutely no definite "we will." One thing he might do is charge health protocol violators, specifically those who shun quarantine after testing positive, with murder.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1443105/duterte-warns-of-possible-murder-imprudence-raps-vs-covid-positive-persons-who-would-shun-quarantine

President Rodrigo Duterte said it is “possible” to file murder charges against individuals who are fully aware that they are COVID-positive, yet still wandered around and gravely infected another person.

In a taped meeting aired Monday, Duterte’s chief legal counsel Salvador Panelo floated the idea of filing murder charges against these individuals, to which the President agreed.

(If the person knows he has coronavirus yet he still went out and managed to infect another individual which led to their death, that’s intentional killing. It is within the ambit of murder because it’s intentional.)

Duterte, in response, said reckless imprudence would still be the best complaint against these persons though he agreed that a murder case is “possible.”

(What you said about murder, this is far from what the people think, but it is possible. If he knows that he is sick with COVID-19 and he goes about nonchalant, going around here and there, if it is intentional, that’s far but it could be murder as what Sal said.)

(But if now, reckless imprudence would be the most fit for the situation.)

Panelo says a person who infects another should be charged with murder. Duterte does not scoff at this but says "it is possible." Has anyone else in the world spewed such nonsense? Forget about the impossibility of proving the case it is simply draconian talk meant to scare the people. For a virus that has a 90% recovery rate and that is generally asymptomatic.