Palace confident Filipinos will continue to follow quarantine rules

Malacañang expressed confidence on Thursday that Filipinos will continue to follow quarantine protocols should the government move to further ease COVID-19 restrictions.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque issued the statement ahead of President Rodrigo Duterte’s announcement slated for Thursday evening on the fate of the community quarantines, especially in Metro Manila, the hotbed of coronavirus infection in the Philippines, by June 1.

“The level of confidence is very high. Unang-una napatunayan ng mga Pilipino na kaya nilang sumunod dahil naman, by and large, itong more than 70 days na tayong nagkaroon ng ECQ at MECQ, ay pinatunayan natin na disiplinado po ang mga Pilipino,” Roque said in a televised briefing.

The Palace official reiterated his warning that stricter quarantine measures could be reimposed should there be a rapid surge in new infections.

“Tingin ko alam ng mga Pilipino na mas malaki ‘yung magiging banta sa kanilang buhay at kabuhayan kung sa puntong ito, matapos nawalan tayo ng 70 days tayo at nakakulong tayo sa ating mga pamamahay, ay babalik sila sa dati," he said.

Duterte was expected to decide later Thursday whether to adopt the recommendation of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) to place Metro Manila under a less strict general community quarantine from June 1 to 15.

The National Capital Region is currently under a modified enhanced community quarantine.

On Wednesday, the Philippines registered 380 new COVID-19 infections, the biggest daily jump in cases since April 6 when 414 new cases were reported by the Department of Health.  The country’s COVID-19 cases stood at 15,049 on Wednesday, with 904 deaths and 3,506 recoveries. — Virgil Lopez/RSJ, GMA News