Palace firm on 10-people limit on religious gatherings

MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang Thursday stood by the government's decision to limit the number of persons who can join religious gatherings to ten and advised worshippers to just hear online masses for now.

Metro Manila and the provinces of Bulacan, Laguna, Cavite and Rizal were downgraded to the more relaxed general community quarantine starting Wednesday as the government strives to revive the pandemic-hit economy.

Despite the easing of lockdown measures, mass gatherings, including religious services, remain restricted, with the number of allowed participants limited to just ten.

Archdiocese of Manila apostolic administrator Bishop Broderick Pabillo has urged authorities to ease the restriction, noting that some businesses have been allowed a bigger capacity. He argued that churches are much bigger than restaurants hence the ten-person limit "does not sound logical."

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque urged Catholics to comply with the measure, saying it is only temporary.

"We can go online (when hearing masses) for now and observe the ten-person limit because this is just temporary. I recall that when the frontliners requested for the imposition of ECQ (enhanced community quarantine), the Catholic Church was the first to prohibit gatherings," Roque said at a press briefing.

"So in the same spirit, to avoid the spread of COVID (coronavirus disease), we appeal for patience for now. This will not be forever," he added

Roque was referring to a previous request of health workers to place the majority of Luzon on a two-week lockdown to allow the government to enhance its strategies against the pandemic. The government only imposed a partial lockdown on Metro Manila, Bulacan, Laguna, Cavite and Rizal from August 4 to 18, saying it no longer has funds to help displaced workers and poor households. The Roman Catholic Church, the religious group of more than 80 percent of Filipinos, suspended religious services even before the enforcement of the partial lockdown.

Roque said previous experiences of other countries have shown that the coronavirus can spread in religious events. The restrictions, Roque added, were approved upon consultation with local governments.

Metropolitan Manila Development Authority general manager Jose Garcia noted that the restrictions were based on the original GCQ set-up imposed last June. The government eventually eased certain restrictions to reopen the economy.

"They decided to adopt that GCQ because we just came from MECQ (modified enhanced community quarantine) so I think we need to follow what’s the original GCQ," Garcia said.

"As Secretary Roque and our mayors said, we are amenable to any transition, we just implemented the status quo until August 31. That’s only ten days, maybe we will improve the numbers," he added.

Garcia said mayors are willing to adjust in case the pandemic situation improves.