Willy-nilly

After 11 months of telling the nation what to do for pandemic response, with little resistance, maybe it was force of habit that made the national government announce the reopening of cinemas, gaming arcades and parks effective Feb. 15, in Metro Manila and other areas under general community quarantine or GCQ.

Instead of jubilation over what Malacañang described as the revival of 300,000 jobs, however, the announcement was greeted with protests from Metro Manila mayors, who feared a spike in COVID transmission.

Marikina Mayor Marcelino Teodoro even issued an executive order to keep cinemas and gaming arcades closed in his city – shortly before the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) decided to reset the move, tentatively to March 1.

Mayor Joy Belmonte of Quezon City, the largest local government unit in the National Capital Region, said even several cinema operators were surprised and not too pleased with the move, which was meant to be part of the calibrated reopening of the economy. Obviously, neither the NCR mayors nor the cinema owners were consulted on the move, which was postponed ostensibly to draw up the guidelines for the reopening.

Shouldn’t the guidelines have been released first before the implementation was announced?

It was the second time that NCR mayors had objected to a decision of the IATF on economic reopening.

The first time was when the IATF decided to allow children from 10 to 14 years old to leave their homes. The move is now on indefinite hold.

Last Monday, the IATF again bowed to the NCR mayors and deferred the reopening of cinemas.

After failing to consult the mayors on the move, the IATF is meeting with the local executives within the week.

*      *      *

Mayor Joy told us on “The Chiefs” Monday night on Cignal TV’s OneNews that even several cinema owners had told her they were concerned about their capabilities to enforce health protocols inside movie theaters.

Physical distancing may be enforced, but how can you constantly monitor if moviegoers are wearing face masks and shields in the darkness?

Merely breathing can expel the coronavirus into the air. In places as enclosed as cinemas, the air recirculated by air conditioning can bring illness and even death.

Such fears have kept people away from air travel, killing aviation and tourism in the horrible year of COVID 2020. Most people still continue to shun air travel, despite reassurances from airline companies that planes have special filtration systems that kill pathogens.

Cinemas don’t have that special filtration system, but they are required to improve ventilation for their reopening, which will require some retrofitting – another disincentive for resuming operations at this point.

Then there’s that other problem: with the global entertainment industry mostly on lockdown, what will the cinemas show? People won’t pay premium rates to watch reruns. Plus, in this pandemic, people have become spoiled by Netflix and other movie streaming services, available on demand, with subtitles.

The operator of a large network of cinemas told Mayor Joy that even if they are allowed to reopen, not even half of the movie houses would do so. And even then, there is no certainty that the business will be viable. With a more infectious coronavirus mutant now in the Philippines, people are being extra careful and avoiding risky places.

Even the anticipation of the vaccine rollout is making people more risk-averse. After 11 months of sacrifices, it would be tragic if we catch COVID at this point, transmit it to loved ones, and the worst happens. So people are keeping their face masks and shields on, maintaining distancing and manic handwashing, and staying away from enclosed spaces.

*      *      *

With children and the elderly still barred from outdoor activities, families can’t watch movies together, so the streaming services are preferred in the comfort of home.

The only people who will pay more than the cost of a month’s Netflix mobile subscription to watch one movie in a cinema are probably lovers.

At least the pandemic hasn’t killed romance in our country. The difference in the time of COVID is that couples prefer dating in open areas.

In the evening of Valentine’s Day, I was surprised to find a lot of people dating or groups of friends taking selfies at the fountain with dancing colors at the Anda Circle near our office in Manila’s Port Area. With Rizal Park still closed, those out to celebrate Valentine’s Day found the smaller spots in the city developed by Mayor Isko Moreno precisely for evening promenades and outdoor relaxation.

Near my home, a commercial road lined with restaurants had many patrons on Valentine Sunday night, for the first time since the lockdowns. Images from around the country showed rooftop dining areas popular on V-Day, in addition to ground level establishments offering al fresco options.

The flower vendors must be happy; along sidewalks, private driveways and several malls that I visited over the weekend, there were a lot of people buying Valentine bouquets.

Maybe pandemic cabin fever has intensified the urge to reach out and express affection.

With livelihoods devastated, it’s unlikely that flower sales reached pre-pandemic levels. Still, it was surely much better than the plunge in sales for All Saints’ Day last year.

*      *      *

Maybe the weekend crowd contributed to the suggestion of the Cabinet’s economic cluster to place the entire country under modified GCQ by March 1.

The recommendation was presented to President Duterte last Monday by acting Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Chua, who cited the trillions of pesos already lost as a result of the pandemic restrictions.

Chua noted that the Christmas holiday shopping crush and celebrations and the Black Nazarene activities did not turn into super spreader events as feared. He attributed this to stricter adherence to health protocols even as economic reopening continues.

It’s doubtful though that NCR mayors, who will be tasked to enforce health protocols, would go along with the suggestion. Even the reopening of parks, museums and gaming arcades is being opposed by Moreno, whose city hosts the largest open park in Metro Manila.

The OCTA Research Group also warned against the MGCQ suggestion, saying such a move should depend on infection trends. At this point, the OCTA fellows said, the flat transmission in Metro Manila could still spike, and infections are rising in several areas outside the NCR.

To avoid seeing local government units acting on their own to reverse IATF policies that are imposed willy-nilly, the task force should regularly consult the affected LGUs – before, not after the fact.