But with the advice that if they ask to see your documents and find you have lied, they would welcome the opportunity to have a headline "Foreigner arrested and to be deported for lying to checkpoint staff". It will not matter if you are one of 50 who do the same thing - it may have serious repercussions ONLY if you are an alien. (FYI: This is an alien)
A number of people seem to contend that a potential victim staying at home doesn't prevent them from getting this disease, but if everyone else stays home, that will work.
Checkpoint at malls, never seen any in Dumaguete only a guard. If he/she ask me for my documents I would say to him they, are in my car wait a while Sir. I will go and get them, then drive away.
Although I care about you, I do not think the Governor cares much about how you feel. Nor does he care much about your needs to travel around compared to the needs of many thousands of Filipinos. Sorry. You should take this up with the Governor. He makes the rules. It is his MO. I am only trying to present their position on the matter. Yes and this small chance can lead to huge consequences. It could be catastrophic for the economy. Risk is the balance of the chance of something happening vs the severity of the consequences. From the point of view of the Filipino, so what if a few expats have to sit at home. I think you are missing the point. The intent of this is to keep the hospital resources available for the typical sick and not overfill the capacity with COVID-19 patients. As a result of the actions to rid the island of COVID-19, the hospitals are still open and safe from COVID-19. They are available for everyone else. You misunderstand the situation. The destruction of businesses and jobs is taking place in the USA and UK where people are sitting at home. Here in the Philippines the business are open. More than 20K people in Negros Oriental work for the BPO industry. These are the highest paying jobs here and they bring in much needed foreign currency. Currently these business are open and actually growing while they suck jobs out of the USA and UK where the workers are sitting at home. Asia and the Philippines grow relative to the US and Europe when there are economic difficulties in the US and Europe. Remember Asia is open for business. The US and UK are shut down. Most everybody is still employed. The BPOs are growing, farmers are still growing and selling food, the sari sari stores are still selling stuff and construction workers are working. (On the projects that made and effort to get approval.) I think the misunderstanding here is that the part of the economy that you see is actually the very small part. You do not see the tens of thousands of BPO workers. Many of which work at night to coincide with the time zones of the USA and Europe. A few restaurants and bars do not add up to much. What risk needs to be taken? The economy is mostly open and conducting business. So what if a few restaurants are closed.
Thanks for your concerns about me but I don't need to travel around - I have been in my house for 7 weeks so far and am perfectly happy! Some people make comments here for the good of the people, including fellow expats - it is not necessary in life to be self-interested. I could deeply analyse your views about hospitals (someone I know visited one last week - it was empty of outpatients) , the vibrant economy (people are out working whilst a few EXPATS sit at home!!!???) and other things you say but I find most of it does not make sense to me - perhaps I am too thick. (P.S. Mr Rye - is it okay if I insult myself?).
If authorities are not willing to take any big risks re. quarantine lifting then why not try a gradual process for reducing quarantine in relatively safe areas (although it seems from some postings on here that those who do go out are not being challenged anyway): Why not change the senior age threshold initially to 65 (where I think it once was) and then increase that by 2 years every few days - within a week or two the threshold would be at 70 and further increases could continue if no new cases arise Although I believe kids should be back at school in relatively safe areas, I would accept them staying indoors but perhaps with the exception of one or two going out at a time with a parent/guardian (and ID). Teenagers can be quite susceptible to mental health issues and being locked in cannot be good - unless the current generation is perfectly content to stay indoors on social media. For the person who told me already that the current situation is based on the Governor's rules: 1. The National Government is the one deciding how areas are classified and quarantined. It seems to me that just two classifications do not fit all in a country composed of many islands. 2. My SUGGESTIONS are NOT attempts to undermine authority here. Why would they rush to change policy for an alien? But perhaps some non-aliens read these Forums and might think in different ways if ideas are put forward. Btw, I don't write for my own selfish ends: Now completed my 8th week of total lockdown (i.e not been outside my garden) and can cope with another 6 months at least. But I read here what people write and I know some very sociable members need to be out enjoying their gym, their coffee, their lunch (with liquid!), their mates (or whatever term different countries use).
Issued from Dept of Education today - schools to resume 24th August, but with a programme of learning activities during August in the run-up to that.
The Philippines GDP dropped 9.1% in the first quarter, second only to China. The second quarter will be much worse. Tens of thousands of businesses will close forever and millions are now unemployed that were previously employed. It isn't just a few restaurants. TB and other diseases will become much worse because their treatment is being ignored during the CV crisis. There are very few deaths in the Philippines, it is counterproductive to have lockdowns.
