MANILA, Philippines — The human rights commission called on local governments to make sure that the freedom of movement of senior citizens and older persons will be respected during the general community quarantine in Metro Manila and the provinces of Laguna, Cavite, Rizal and Bulacan.
Senior citizens, along with pregnant women and persons with disability, whom experts say are more at risk of catching the virus, have been told to stay indoors at all times under the quarantine guidelines set by the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases.
Related Stories
Memorandum Circular No. 2020-110, issued by the Department of Interior and Local Government on Monday, provides that older persons may still go out of their residences if the purpose is to obtain essential goods and services or for essential work and permitted activities and directs local governments along with the national police and other frontliners "to allow older persons to cross borders for medical and/or humanitarian purposes" and respect their freedom of movement.
READ: ‘Seniors can go to work, buy goods’
"We emphasize that these rules do not undermine the risks for older persons of contracting COVID-19 when going outside their residences because it balances the need to protect everyone against the disease while respecting the various circumstances that different older persons are in...It recognizes that not all older persons have people to rely on to go outside to procure basic needs and that some older persons need to go out to maintain their physical and mental health and well-being," the Commission on Human Rights said in a statement sent to reporters.
"We further emphasize that the responsibility to curb the transmission of COVID-19 and to protect themselves rests not just on older persons but on every person in this country regardless of age."
The memo, which the commission lauded the DILG for releasing, also mandates the Offices of Senior Citizens Affairs to set up hotlines and help desks for queries and complaints of older persons and directs these offices "to proactively monitor older persons at risk for violence and abuse and to ensure suspected or alleged incidents are reported."
State-run think tank Philippine Institute for Development Studies in a recent study found that the senior citizens sector as a whole need greater health services and social pensions in the time of pandemic, where gaps in government policies and programs are much more pronounced.
"We reiterate that older persons, whatever circumstance they are in, have the right to live a life of dignity, free from abuse, violence, and neglect. The CHR is committed to act on reports of suspected or alleged cases of abuse, violence against or neglect of older persons," CHR said.
LOOK: The Commission on Human Rights issues a series of infographics outlining why the plight of vulnerable sectors should be considered in informing risk communication and community engagement initiatives in the time of COVID-19. @PhilstarNews
— Franco Luna (@francoIuna) April 5, 2020
???? @chrgovph pic.twitter.com/Q6Wfywf721