Joggers face arrest in Taguig

MANILA, Philippines — Persons caught jogging in Bonifacio Global City (BGC) and otherwise violating a ban on outdoor activities face arrest, the Taguig City government said on Thursday.

Taguig has been on lockdown since March 18, a day after President Duterte placed the entire Luzon under enhanced community quarantine to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

In a statement on Thursday, Mayor Lino Cayetano warned residents of BGC and “visitors who insist on doing outdoor fitness and leisure activities” that they would be apprehended for violating the quarantine.

He said there were videos, photos and reports of individuals jogging and doing leisure activities at the BGC.

“Our frontliners are working hard to keep you safe. When you evade the rules of the enhanced community quarantine, you not only endanger yourselves but others also. You also take time and valuable resources from areas where they are most needed,” Cayetano said.

As of Thursday, the Taguig police arrested and charged 15 quarantine violators, including foreigners, at the BGC. Throughout the city, more than 500 violators have been arrested since the start of the lockdown.

“BGC has 30 confirmed COVID-19 infections but I am confident that if they fully participate in their comprehensive approach in handling the virus, we can contain its spread,” Cayetano said. 

“We have been doing extensive contact tracing, disinfection and containment in BGC and the rest of Taguig, but we need citizens to cooperate,” he added.

Free SIM cards

Meanwhile, the Taguig City government also said it would provide SIM cards with internet load to senior citizens, persons with disability and residents with underlying health conditions.

It would also add hygiene kits to relief packs given to residents, Cayetano said.

In Las Piñas, Mayor Imelda Aguilar ordered the addition of nutribuns to food packs given to the city’s residents.

In a statement yesterday, the city government said Aguilar ordered the distribution of 160,000 food packs – consisting of rice, canned goods, noodles and 20 nutribuns – to every family in all of the city’s 20 barangays.