Religious activity with 10% capacity not mass gathering —Bishop Pabillo

Archdiocese of Manila apostolic administrator Bishop Broderick Pabillo on Wednesday defended their decision to open their churches amid prohibition on mass gathering imposed by the national government.

Interviewed on Dobol B sa News TV, Pabillo said they do not consider religious activities with only 10% of church capacity in attendance as mass gathering.

“Ang sabi nila na walang mass gathering. Ang aming pananaw, ang 10% ng loob ng simbahan, hindi naman mass gathering 'yan,” he said.

(They said mass gathering is prohibited. We believe that the 10% capacity inside the church is not mass gathering.)

In a Pastoral statement on Tuesday, Pabillo announced that the Archdiocese of Manila will hold religious worship at 10% of a church's capacity starting Wednesday, March 24.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque, meanwhile, said the government will order the closure of Catholic churches that will defy the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) directive banning religious gatherings.

He called on Pabillo not to encourage the disregard of government’s protocols in light of the pandemic.

With the implementation of the general community quarantine bubble in National Capital Region (NCR), Laguna, Cavite, Bulacan and Rizal, religious gatherings are prohibited from March 22 to April 4 amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pabillo pointed out that the government should define first mass gatherings because they do not consider the 10% capacity or around 30 people in  a cathedral as a mass gathering.

In response to Roque, Pabillo said the government should make their rules clear.

He also advised the government to consult first with stakeholders before creating regulations related to the pandemic.  —KBK, GMA News