Pateros mayor sees no discrimination, human rights violation in yellow ribbons for COVID-positive houses

Pateros Mayor Miguel "Ike" Ponce III on Monday said he sees no discrimination or human rights violation in having yellow ribbons placed in front of houses with COVID-19 cases in the municipality.

"Actually ang pinag-uusapan nating paglabag at diskriminasyon ay kung ayaw niya, pipilitin mo. Pero kung pareho tayong nagkakasundo, parang in effect I’m waiving my rights for privacy," Ponce said in an interview on GMA News' Unang Balita.

(Actually, we can discuss [human rights] violation and discrimination if the person does not want it and you force it. But if both of us agree, in effect, 'I'm waiving my rights for privacy.')

"'Yun pong paglalagay ng yellow ribbon ay bahagi lang ng pagpapatupad natin ng granular lockdown for effective monitoring, for efficient delivery of services. 'Yun pong paglalagay ng yellow ribbon ay purely voluntary. Ito po ay naka-post sa social media namin. Ito rin ang instruction sa mga kapitan. Malalagyan lang natin kung payag sila," he said.

(The placing of yellow ribbon is part of our implementation of the granular lockdown for effective monitoring, for efficient delivery of services. It is purely voluntary. This is posted on our social media. It is also our instruction to barangay captains. A house will only be given a yellow ribbon if the occupants agree.)

"'Pag hindi payag ay hindi natin ipipilit ito dahil siyempre palagi nating tinitingnan 'yung kapakanan ng gustong maging secret, maging private 'yung kanilang kalalagayan," Ponce added.

(If they do not agree, we cannot force it because of course we always look at the welfare of those who prefer to keep their condition a secret or private.)

Last week, the Pateros municipal government started marking — using yellow ribbons — houses with COVID-19 positive individuals and quarantined close contacts for easier monitoring in an effort to curb the spread of the virus.

Ponce on Monday said there is no political color to the use of the yellow ribbon, and in fact stressed that he is with PDP-Laban.

"'Yung paglalagay ng ribbon ito’y nagkataon lang na dilaw. Ito lang ang available sa atin kaya ito’y walang kahit anong politikang involved dito," he said.

(As for the ribbons, it just so happens that the color yellow is the one available for our use. There is no politics involved here.)

Ponce also said there is no penalty for those refusing to have their houses marked with yellow ribbons as there is no law, executive order or municipal ordinance providing for penalties.

The mayor said the use of the ribbons to mark houses is an effective way since it works both ways — those who are COVID-positive or are close contacts and their neighbors will be conscious of setting a distance between them.

Ponce also said there is no stigma anymore this year in being tagged COVID-positive.

The mayor said some areas in Pateros are currently under granular lockdown.

The municipality has around 600 active COVID-19 cases at the moment, he added.

Asked if he is favoring an extension of the Alert Level 4 with granular lockdowns currently in effect over Metro Manila, Ponce said it is hard to make a comment since many people are having a hard time.

"Napakahirap po talaga magsabi ngayon. Marami nang umiiyak na kababayan kaya gusto natin matapos ito," he said.

(It is difficult to make a comment about it. Many people are saying they are having a hard time and want this to end soon.)

Ponce said of the municipality has a target vaccination of 80% of the adult population. They have already reached more than 100% of that, thus they are already vaccinating non-Pateros residents.

As for the second dose, the municipality has already reached 95% of the target, he said.

Ponce said he is in favor of vaccinating those aged 12-17 years old against COVID-19.

The municipality has already in fact started a registration portal for such purpose, he said. —KG, GMA News