DILG orders postponement of barangay assemblies amid COVID-19 threat

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) on Wednesday ordered the postponement of the barangay assembly day scheduled this month to prevent the spread of the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

"While the holding of the barangay assembly day is important, we need to think of the greater good and ensure the general welfare of our people,” DILG Secretary Eduardo Año said in a press statement.

"Sa harap ng banta ng COVID-19, mas mainam na iwasan natin muna ang mga malakihang pagpupulong para hindi na dumami pa ang mga kaso ng COVID-19,” he added.

According to the DILG chief, the barangay assembly day is a biannual meeting held on any Saturday and Sunday of March and October as mandated by Section 397 of the Local Government Code of 1991.

During the assembly, the barangay chairman is set to deliver his/her address, including accomplishments and plans and programs for the year. The problems of the barangay will also be tackled during the meeting, as well as the proposed solutions.

Earlier, the DILG ordered local government units in the National Capital Region to postpone all mass gatherings as a "social-distancing measure" to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 among the public.

Año reiterated his order to all local government units in Metro Manila to activate their respective Local COVID-19 Task Forces (LCTF), which will lead in bringing symptomatic people to the nearest Department of Health (DOH) referral facility for testing and transferring persons under investigation to the nearest DOH-designated hospital.

The DILG will also work hand in hand with local chief executives in enforcing the home quarantine measures for those suspected of having contracted the virus.

It also tasked the Philippine National Police and even barangay officials to keep students away from crowded places such as malls and markets. Intensified curfew will be implemented by authorities, according to the National Capital Region Police Office.

This came after President Rodrigo Duterte announced the suspension of classes in Metro Manila as the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases increase. —AOL, GMA News