Church gatherings of up to 30% capacity allowed

MANILA, Philippines — While the government scrambles to inoculate a greater number of Filipinos against COVID-19, the task force spearheading efforts to curb the disease has allowed places for religious gatherings in Metro Manila to increase the number of people attending by up to 30 percent of the venue capacity.

Metro Manila mayors are given the discretion, under Resolution No. 116, whether they will permit the gatherings to go beyond the initial 10 percent allowable number of people in a venue.

According to presidential spokesman Harry Roque before the weekend, the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) had given the discretion to local government units (LGUs) to set the allowable number of people in their areas, as long as they would not exceed the 30 percent allowable venue capacity.

The National Capital Region (NCR), provinces of Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal – which make up NCR Plus – are under general community quarantine with heightened restrictions from May 15 to 31.

Also under GCQ are Apayao, Baguio City, Benguet, Kalinga, Mountain Province, Abra, Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, Batangas, Quezon, Puerto Princesa, Iligan City, Davao City and Lanao del Sur.

“For the duration of the GCQ with heightened restrictions in the NCR Plus, the provision on religious gathering for modified enhanced community quarantine under the IATF Omnibus Guidelines is adopted,” read the resolution, allowing the LGUs to increase the allowable venue capacity to 30 percent.

“The religious denominations should strictly observe their submitted protocols and the minimum public health standards,” it added.

The IATF said the gatherings for necrological services, wakes, inurnments, funerals for those who died of causes other than COVID-19 shall be allowed, provided that the same shall be limited to immediate family members, upon the satisfactory proof of their relationship with the deceased, the IATF added. Full compliance with the prescribed minimum health standards are also to be observed during the activity.

Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) spokesman Fr. Jerome Secillano said they were gladdened by the decision of the IATF, and said this would give a chance to more people in areas under the so-called “GCQ with heightened restrictions” to attend religious gatherings physically as he emphasized that spiritual matters are also essential in these trying times.

“It’s good that more people are now given the opportunity to attend church services. Spiritual matters are also very important in this time of pandemic,” Secillano said.

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra told reporters in a Viber message that the IATF has approved the 30 percent of venue capacity for religious gatherings in the NCR and its nearby provinces under heightened GCQ status.

“At its regular meeting yesterday the IATF, with the support of the Metro Manila mayors, granted the request of the churches to allow religious gatherings up to 30 percent of venue capacity in the NCR+ and other areas under the heightened GCQ until May 31, 2021,” Guevarra, a member of the IATF, said.

Meanwhile, the IATF also listed dealers, retailers and attendants of liquified petroleum gas stores as part of the approved Priority Group A4.2 for vaccine deployment under the “retail trade operators and frontliners.”

The IATF likewise considered the 9th Meeting of the ASEAN Plus Three Emergency Rice Reserve of the National Food Authority as an essential gathering and has approved its conduct.

The task force also allowed the Department of Public Works and Highways to supervise and relocate affected informal settlers in connection with their construction projects, “in accordance with existing laws and ordinances, and subject to safety and health protocols and strict observance of minimum public health standards.”

The IATF further approved the recommendations of the National Economic and Development Authority to scale up the contact tracing applications of various LGUs, such as the integrated one used by Pasig, Mandaluyong, Antipolo and Valenzuela.

Roque also said the Department of Information and Communications Technology and the Department of the Interior and Local Government have been directed to ensure the interoperability of all contact tracing applications in the country. – Robertzon Ramirez