Residents in the National Capital Region (NCR) were frustrated Tuesday night September 8, after the Philippines’ coronavirus task force (IATF) said it was deferring the implementation of a pilot lockdown system in the metropolis just hours before its scheduled launch.

Even some Metro Manila mayors tasked to oversee the supposed shift in policy said they were blindsided by the extension of the modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ), the second strictest form of lockdown in the Philippines.

“Narinig nalang namin iyong pahayag sa media na (We just found out about news of MECQ extension from the media,” Marikina Mayor Marcelino Teodoro told Super Radyo on Wednesday, September 8.

“Tingin ko, hindi lang mga negosyante ang nagalit, madami ring mga mayor ang nagalit (I think not only businessmen but also the mayors were upset),” he added.

Teodoro was referring to business establishments that prepared for the resumption of their services on Wednesday, the day Metro Manila was supposed to transition to general community quarantine (GCQ).

Some churches have also planned to resume in-person religious services, only to cancel these activities at the last minute following Malacanang’s announcement.

“Hindi ko masisisi iyong mga kaparian, in fact hindi ko masisisi pati ang mga negosyante, lalo na ang small and medium, kasi umaasa lang sila sa kanilang pagbubukas base sa firm decision. E kapag pabago-bago, hindi mo masisisi ang simbahan,” Manila Mayor Isko Moreno told reporters.

(I can’t blame the churches, and the small and medium enterprises, because they were banking on a firm decision from the national government. If they flip-flop, you can’t blame the church for expressing their frustration.)

Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte echoed the sentiments of Teodoro and Moreno, while also noting the poor information dissemination from the national government.

“The national government raised hopes of a more liberal quarantine status by announcing a shift to GCQ by September 8. Thus, business owners prepared for this shift to looser restrictions by buying supplies and calling back their employees to work,” Belmonte told Rappler.

“What the national government failed to explain properly was that what they actually meant was GCQ with alert level four,” she added.

National government officials have not formally laid out the guidelines under the new lockdown system, but their previous statements indicate that if an area will be under GCQ with alert level four, high-risk establishments would still be barred from operating.

So why the last-minute change in policy?

Asked why the pilot run of the new lockdown system was postponed, the National Task Force Against COVID-19 said the guidelines were simply not yet finished.

“Iyong guidelines na hinihintay ay hindi pa po handa at naipapamahagi sa lahat ng mag-i-implement (The guidelines were not yet ready and distributed to those who will implement them),” NTF Against COVID-19 spokesman retired General Restituto Padilla, Jr. said in an interview with state-run PTV on Wednesday.

When asked whether a lack of preparation was among the factors that led to the deferment of the new lockdown system, Padilla acknowledged it may have been among the reasons.

“Kasama na rin po iyan. At kasama na rin ang panawagan ng health workers na i-delay pa nang kaunti (That’s a factor. Another factor was the call of health workers to delay the transition),” he added.

Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque was supposed to explain “four pages” of guidelines on Tuesday afternoon, hours before the eventual postponement of new lockdown system, but held off the announcement.

Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque was supposed to explain “four pages” of guidelines on Tuesday afternoon, hours before the implementation of the new lockdown scheme. He held off the announcement. Instead what was announced was the cancellation of the quarantine, which was touted to be pilot tested in Metro Manila.

He had said the national pandemic task force secretariat was still entertaining more inputs from mayors of the capital region.

But Interior Undersecretary Epimaco Densing, who is among those working on the new lockdown system, said on Wednesday that mayors were fully supportive of the shift in policy.

“NCR mayors are 100% supportive and ready for implementation,” Densing told Rappler.

“Since this is a policy shift, there’s just a need to let the public understand the policy shift especially the alert levels,” Densing said.

But Belmonte, who leads the Philippines’ most populous city, lamented that they were given only “broad strokes” on how to implement the new policy.

“During our meeting [Tuesday] morning, the mayors raised some issues and the responses were sometimes contradictory or unclear,” Belmonte said.

“Thus, I suspect that the sudden decision to extend MECQ with no explanation may be due to the realization of the national government that this new policy was confusing and not well thought-out,” she added.

Padilla, meanwhile, called on Filipinos to look at the abrupt policy reversal as an opportunity for learning for the national government.

“Kinakailangan tingnan natin in a positive light. Maaaring may lumabas na mga katanungan at point of clarification na kailangang suriing mabuti (Let’s look at this in a positive light. Perhaps concerns and points of clarification were raised and need to be studied further),” Padilla said.

“Sa susunod po, bilang lesson learned, kailangang nakahanda ang guidelines bago magkaroon ng anunsyo (Next time, as a lesson, the government should ready the guidelines before making an announcement),” he added.

The Palace said the MECQ in Metro Manila will be maintained until September 15, or until the pilot GCQ with alert level system is implemented, whichever comes first.

The developments came as Metro Manila continued to struggle in addressing the highly infectious Delta variant threat in the region. As of Wednesday, the capital region was grappling with over 42,000 active COVID-19 infections. – Rappler.com