Muntinlupa imposes nine-hour curfew amid COVID-19 threat

MANILA, Philippines (Update 2, 10:04 p.m.) — The City of Muntinlupa is imposing a nine-hour curfew starting March 16, as a measure aimed to prevent further infections of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

The City Government of Muntinlupa posted on its Facebook page that its city council “approved an ordinance imposing curfew of 8:00 p.m. – 5:00 a.m. starting March 16.”

The ordinance follows the resolution of the Metro Manila Council urging city mayors to place a curfew in their localities to reduce and restrict movement in the area.

“This ordinance shall cover all persons within the territorial jurisdiction of Muntinlupa,” the document read.

The curfew will be placed until April 14 "unless the emergency situation is extended by the Government," it added.

Exemptions, fines

The city government noted that Muntinlupa “is strategically located at the southern gateway to Metro Manila and due to the people coming in and out of the City, most especially from the [Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon] area, this curfew ordinance becomes more urgent, and necessary to contain the spread of the virus.”

The following are cited as exemption from the curfew:

• Those who work at night such as call center agents, hospital personnel such as doctor, nurses, and other health personnel, ambulance drivers, security guards and those who may be allowed by the Task Force herein created;
• Delivery of basic necessities like food and medicines
• Public transport services (buses, jeepneys, tricycles and the like) as determined by the Muntinlupa Traffic Management Bureau
• Peace and Order Personnel in both city and barangay levels as determined by the Local Chief Executive
• Emergency cases as determined by the Muntinlupa Traffic Management Bureau

Those who will violate the ordinance will be imposed with a penalty of paying a fine of P1,000 for the first offense, P2,000 for the second offense and P5,000 for the third offense.

The total number of COVID-19 cases in the Philippines is now more than 100.

The Department of Health on Saturday recorded 47 new COVID-19 cases in the country, bringing the total to 111.

President Rodrigo Duterte earlier this week declared a state of public health emergency in the country. 

In a press conference on Thursday, the president also said that the National Capital Region will be placed under month-long “community quarantine” starting midnight of March 15.

A curfew in Metro Manila, however, is not part of the law on the declaration of a public health emergency nor is it among the measures listed on the Palace-issued memorandum for the community quarantine under a Code Red Sublevel 2 alert.

There was also no indication that the Department of Health, as well as members of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, recommended the imposition of a metro-wide curfew. — Kristine Joy Patag