It's Final: Mass Gatherings Prohibited Under GCQ

After receiving numerous complaints from local government units (LGUs), the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases has decided to prohibit anew mass gatherings in areas under the general community quarantine (GCQ).

- Argyll Cyrus B. Geducos, Alexandria Dennise San Juan, And Genalyn D. Kabiling

LGUs had complained about IATF’s decision to allow religious and work gatherings under the GCQ, saying this ignores all efforts to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the country.

“Alinsunod po sa mga reklamo na natanggap... nabago na po ang guidelines, bumalik tayo sa doon sa rules under ECQ (Following the complaints we received... we reverted to the ECQ guidelines),” presidential spokesman Harry Roque said on state-run TV station PTV-4.

“Bawal pa rin po ang work gatherings, bawal pa rin po ang pagtitipon for religious activities, maski po sa ilalim tayo ng GCQ (Work gatherings and religious activities are still not allowed even if we’re under the GCQ),” he added.

According to Roque, various religious organizations in the country agreed to suspend all of their services to protect the faithful.

“Nakonsulta na po natin mula kahapon hanggang ngayon ang halos lahat po ng relihiyon: Ang mga Muslim, mga Kristiyano, Protestante, Iglesia Ni Cristo... Sang-ayon naman po sila na kinakailangan pangalagaan muna ang kalusugan ng mga nananampalataya (We’ve consulted almost all religions – the Muslims, Christians, Protestants, Iglesia Ni Cristo, and they agreed that we need to protect the safety of the people),” he said.