Palace: Duterte in Davao to visit home, check on Mindanao
MANILA, Philippines (Updated 6 p.m.) — Malacañang on Sunday justified President Rodrigo Duterte's decision to go home to Davao City, which has been criticized for allegedly violating the government's prohibition against non-essential travel.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said Duterte, who has repeatedly asked Filipinos to stay home to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, has to monitor the situation in Mindanao as it starts to return to normal.
"I know this will become an issue but let's not forget that President Duterte came home to Davao not just to visit (the city) after 67 days but because he is also the president," Roque told radio station dzBB in Filipino last Saturday.
"Kinakailangan niya namang malaman kung ano ang nangyayari sa Mindanao ‘no dahil ang buong Mindanao ngayon po ay bumabalik na sa normal. So hindi po naman maaalis sa katungkulan ng presidente iyan ‘no (He has to know what is happening in Mindanao because the entire Mindanao is returning to normal. So you can't deny that it's part of the duties of the president)," he added.
But Roque clarified that leisure travel, including visiting one's relatives, is still not allowed.
"Pero yung mga leisure po, yung tipong mga bibisita sa ating mga kamag-anak baka kung pupwede po maiwasan muna po 'yan kasi wala pa talagang ganyang pahintulot ang IATF (Inter-Agency Task Force). Nililimitahan pa rin natin sa essential travel (For leisure travels like visiting one's relatives, maybe we should avoid it for now because it is not yet permitted by the IATF. We still limit the travels to essential ones)," he said.
In a statement issued Sunday, Roque said Duterte is in Davao City to visit his family and to "assess the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) situation in Mindanao."
"COVID-19 has affected not just one part of the country but the entire Philippines. As a father of the nation, President Duterte — considering his age and comorbidities — is a hands-on working chief executive who spent his weekend to check how this global health scare impacted the lives of people on the ground, especially those living outside Metro Manila and Luzon," Roque said.
"Rest assured that he will be back in Malacañang in time for the next IATF (Inter-agency task force) briefing," he added.
The IATF is expected to hold its next meeting is scheduled on Tuesday.
Duterte came home to Davao City last Saturday, his first trip to the southern city since Metro Manila was placed under enhanced community quarantine. Col. Jesus Durante III, Presidential Security Group chief , has said the president is in the city for a visit "after more than two months of not being able to see his family."
The trip did not sit well with some critics who accused Duterte of not complying with the quarantine measures set by the government and sending a wrong signal to the public.
Some people on the internet also questioned whether visiting one's family is considered an "essential" travel allowed under quarantine protocols. Duterte's supporters claimed the 75-year-old president also deserves a break and pointed out that Davao City has funded sweeper flights that allowed stranded people to come home.
Metro Manila has been under modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) since May 16.
Under the government's guidelines for the MECQ, any person below 21 years old, those who are 60 years old and above, those with immunodeficiency, comodrbidities or other health risks and pregnant women including any person who resides with them shall be required to remain in their residences at all times except when indispensable under the circumstances for obtaining essential goods and services or for work in permitted industries, offices or activities.
However, the guidelines for interzonal and intrazonal movement set by the government state that the movement of government officials and government frontline personnel within and across areas placed under any form of community quarantine shall be permitted.
Land, air, or sea travel by uniformed personnel, government officials and employees for official business with the corresponding travel authority and authorized humanitarian assistance actors and other relief and humanitarian assistance, is also allowed.
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