Metro Manila mayors urge task force to rethink allowing kids outdoors
MANILA, Philippines — Metro Manila's mayors are calling on the national government to revoke its policy allowing minors to leave their homes amid the General Community Quarantine over fears of the more transmissible Delta variant of the coronavirus.
Speaking at the televised meeting of the coronavirus task force Monday night, Metro Manila Development Authority chair Benhur Abalos said this was the prevailing sentiment at the Metro Manila Council held earlier that day.
"[National Capital Region] cases are rising and we have three cases of the Delta variant. In fact, the increase is exponential...we're asking the [Inter-Agency Task Force] if it's possible to suspend the policy on five-year-olds and above in Metro Manila for now," Abalos said.
"This is because the ages 5-17 are not yet vaccinated and can possibly become super-spreaders," he also said.
The government has repeatedly made clear that national pandemic task force policies trump those of local governments despite some leeway on implementation.
READ: What we know so far about the Delta variant of COVID-19
The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases on Friday, July 9, issued a resolution allowing children five years old and above to go to parks and outdoor areas in places under GCQ and Modified GCQ.
Some local government units including Navotas City have already begun enforcing restrictions on minors due to rising cases.
According to Navotas City Mayor Toby Tiangco, the local government unit was "already preparing to implement the said policy" to allow kids outdoors but decided to hold off on it because of the steady rise of COVID cases.
"Our barangays have already sent a list of areas we could open for children. Unfortunately, our cases have gone up that's why we needed to defer its implementation," he said.
Navotas City gov't says it plans to enforce a 24-hour curfew for minors anew, citing a 105.1% two-week growth rate of COVID-19 cases in the city @PhilstarNews
— Franco Luna (@francoIuna) July 19, 2021
Other cities like Quezon City have since designated open-air locations as ‘Child-Friendly Safe Zones’ where minors five years old and above can engage in outdoor activities, non-contact sports and exercise.
"After months of being confined inside their houses, we saw the need to give minors a chance to go out and get some fresh air in outdoor areas that are deemed safe," said Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte.
READ: QC gov't designates child-friendly safe zones for minors
The policy-setting MMC said it would issue guidelines on the movement of children in parks, but later said it would take a step back and review the resolution once cases of the Delta variant were announced.
Although they are not binding, the recommendations of the MMC have historically been mirrored by the coronavirus task force and later approved by President Rodrigo Duterte, himself a former mayor.
"The mayors are one in calling for this. We were unanimous in the vote, and we are ready for the Delta variant," Abalos also said.
Manila and Caloocan City have said that no Delta variant cases have been detected in their localities.
To date, 1.5 million coronavirus cases have been recorded in the Philippines, 47,561 of whom are still active cases.
Per the Department of Health's latest tally, 35 Delta variant cases have been documented in the country so far.
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