More emphasis on enforcement as LGUs urged to form 'Disiplina Brigades'
MANILA, Philippines — Local government units have been encouraged to organize "Disiplina Brigades" as part of the government's "BIDA ang may Disiplina” campaign, the Department of Interior and Local Government said.
The DILG again pushes the narrative — disputed by survey data — that the public is to blame for the sharp rise in coronavirus cases since the implementation of general community quarantine, an aporoach that academics and professionals in the health sector have warned against.
Although there are some, like lawyer Larry Gadon who has been documented on social media wearing a face shield with a face mask pasted to it instead of covering his mouth, a Social Weather Stations survey in May found that 77% of working-age Filipinos or those aged 15 years old and above always use a face mask when going out of their homes.
"The Barangay Disiplina Brigades shall be composed of community members, including barangay tanods, who will remind their neighbors and friends of minimum health standards and call the attention of those who violate health protocols," the department's statement issued Saturday evening reads.
The department called the program "a bid to change the behavior and encourage discipline among Filipinos." Under the program, Filipinos are urged to practice "B.I.D.A: B - Bawal walang mask; I - I-sanitize ang mga kamay, iwas-hawak sa mga bagay; D - Dumitansya ng isang metro; and, A - Alamin ang totoong impormasyon."
READ: Gov't said Filipinos are 'pasaway' and violate quarantine, but data show otherwise | Task force: SAF a solution to Cebu City residents' 'failure' to follow health protocols
In a statement issued Saturday evening, Interior secretary Eduardo Año said that the campaign "emphasizes the importance of individual self-discipline and behaviour change, practiced by the citizens down at the grassroots level."
“Through the said campaign, the public, down to the barangays and families, are encouraged to be self-disciplined and cooperative in abiding with the minimum health standards (e.g. B.I.D.A.), and other COVID-19 policies,” Año said. "The people have to play a big role in this campaign but it will only be successful if it is well led by our local governments."
The campaign is similar to an earlier DILG campaign "Disiplina Muna" campaign that was billed as a "national advocacy campaign [that] seeks to rebuild the culture of discipline among Filipinos to foster people’s participation as one of the tenets of good governance".
READ: Public told to report neighbors with COVID-19 as cops prepare to go house-to-house
Although the government's coronavirus task force said it has recalibrated its approach to addressing the pandemic, the use of heavy enforcement to intimidate would-be violators has not changed. The call for barangay discipline groups is part of quarantine presence and enforcement to address a medical issue.
As it stands, the Joint Task Force COVID Shield, the quarantine enforcement unit which includes the police and military, has already deployed police "quarantine rules supervisors" in every barangay to, it said, conduct the "identification and monitoring of barangay residents on home quarantine if there is any and monitor and secure health/quarantine facility in the barangay."
The PNP has also called on private security to assist in enforcement.
"Given the community transmission all over the country, and how we now lead ASEAN and the WHO Western Pacific Region, we don't need a repeat of policies that have not proven to be effective in mitigating the spread of the pandemic. Beyond quarantines and lockdowns, more attention must be given to the real frontlines— the communities and workplaces—not just the hospitals," Coalition for People's Right to Health co-convenor Josh San Pedro San Pedro,a doctor, said earlier this month.
READ: Task force to LGUs: Intensify ordinances, enforcement of health protocols | PNP calls on private security to back 'intensified enforcement' of quarantine rules
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