DILG stands firm on motorcycle backriding policy: Not allowed even for family members
MANILA, Philippines — Interior Secretary Eduardo Año stood firm on his directive to not allow backriding, even for family members, while general community quarantine measures are implemented.
In an Inter-Agency Task Force meeting aired Friday morning, Sen. Bong Go, who is not part of the IATF, raised that his colleagues at the Senate discussed whether backriding may be allowed for family members or spouses, citing difficulty for transportation.
Año said that while they understand the hardships of the public, “based on the guidelines of Department of Health, minimum health standards will be very difficult to practice in motorcycle [riding].”
The government placed Metro Manila, epicenter of the disease, under general community quarantine starting June 1.
The move is to reopen the economy after a two-month lull under lockdown, but the working public was left to scramble for means to get to their workplaces due to apparent lack of public transportation.
READ: Familiar transportation woes as Metro Manila lurches to 'new normal'
The interior chief also stressed that the coronavirus, that has infected more than 20,000 Filipinos, does not discriminate between family members or spouses.
“We are talking about health risk, not convenience, not that they can save more. It’s life,” he said, adding that it is “costlier if they die.”
He stressed that the directive will not be in place “forever.”
“We will arrive at the ‘new normal’ where there will be zero cases, then we can allow [back-riding],” he said in Filipino.
As of Thursday, the health department tallied 20,382 coronavirus infections in the country. Fatality count, meanwhile, is recorded at 984. — Kristine Joy Patag
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