Quezon City taps cops to screen mall-goers

The Quezon City government has asked policemen to ensure that all mall-goers have quarantine passes, Mayor Joy Belmonte said Monday following reports that some shopping centers disobeyed pandemic protocols over the weekend. 

Only 1 member of a household should have a quarantine pass for supply runs, Belmonte told ANC. 

Members of the city's business processing and licensing office will also check on mall safety measures incognito, she said. 

People thronged shopping centers over the weekend as the government started easing a 2-month-long lockdown in Metro Manila and urban centers to stop the economy from shrinking.

Photos of crowded corridors, a violation of physical distancing protocols, went viral on social media and caused alarm. Mall operators have called on the public to observe new safety rules. 

"Siguro iyong taong bayan ay sabik na sabik lumabas sa kanilang mga tahanan kaya hindi ko nakikitang iyan ang norm. Nakikita ko na iyan ang exception kung kaya't nasa period of observation pa tayo kung ito talaga iyong pattern," said Belmonte. 

(Perhaps the public was excited to out of their homes so I don't see this as a norm, but rather, an exception. We are still in the period of observation of whether or not this is the pattern.) 

• Palace: COVID-19 cases may spike if mall-goers spurn rules 
• Malls must stay shut if shoppers defy COVID-19 protocols: MMDA

 
ANC, May 18, 2020