By ELLSON QUISMORIO
The viral images and videos depicting social distancing violations in the newly-reopened malls are fake news, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Ramon Lopez told the House of Representatives on Monday morning.
Lopez, serving as a resource person in the virtual hearing held by the House Defeat COVID-19 Committee’s (DCC) “New Normal” Cluster panel, showed the congressmen several pictures that indicated low attendance in malls.
“These are actual pictures…we made an inspection yesterday (Sunday) just for me to see and verify the various fake news coming out that there are so many people violating social distancing during the opening of malls,” Lopez said.
“So we checked personally some malls in the metropolis that were usually full on Sundays. Dito we can see na hindi naman ganun kadami ang tao,” he said.
The Trade secretary’s observation was opposite to that of viral videos online showing a steady stream of people entering malls and people huddling together, as they normally would in these establishments.
For context, some malls in Metro Manila reopened its doors to patrons as early as May 15, when the strict Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) was downgraded to a Modified ECQ (MECQ). Lopez didn’t specify which mall or malls were inspected.
“While we were interviewing, doing a quick survey, the crowd is only about 20 percent of what a typical Sunday afternoon [is], pre-COVID,” Lopez said.
He said the total of in-mall stores that opened could also be pegged at 20 percent.
“Ang talagang open were the supermarkets and drug stores. Because even the food areas were only for take out and delivery. So konting-konti po ang tao,” Lopez said.
As a rule, he said that only one person is allowed to occupy a space of two square meters at any given time at a store or shop inside the mall. He said the mall goers are “told to proceed with that errands and buy what they need to buy.”
Lopez also told solons about the presence of marshals who remind people to observe physical distancing and foot traffic rules inside the mall based on markers or partitions that have been set up.
“So those are just examples of what we saw. Again there is no truth to all the fake news trying to discredit what the government has just decided [to slowly allow businesses to reopen] even partially [by] 50 percent, many of the stalls inside the malls,” he said.
