Philippines – Covid-19 Updates – New MECQ Guidelines Issued By The IAFT; IPHOPI Re-opens On May 25.

– Establishments involved in production of cement and steel

– BPOs and export-oriented establishments without need to set up on-site or near-site accommodation arrangements

– Mining and quarrying

– E-commerce companies

– Postal, courier, delivery services

– Rental and leasing, other than real estate, such as vehicles and equipment for permitted sectors

– Employment activities that involves the recruitment and placement for permitted sectors

– Repair of computers, personal and household goods

– Housing services activities

– Agriculture, forestry, fishery and such other components of food value chain

– Manufacturers of medicines, medical supplies, devices and equipment
 

– Other manufacturing industries (e.g., beverages including alcohol drinks, wood products and furniture, non-metallic products, textiles and clothing, tobacco products, paper and paper products, rubber and plastic products, coke and refined petroleum products, other non-metallic products, computers, electronic, and optical products, electrical equipment, machinery and equipment, motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers, other transport equipment, and others)

– Real estate and leasing activities

– Administrative and office support (e.g., photocopying and billing services)

– Other financial services (e.g., money exchange, insurance, microfinance and credit cooperatives, reinsurance and non-compulsory pension funding)

– Legal and accounting services

– Management and consultancy services or activities

– Architectural and engineering activities including technical testing and analysis

– Science and technology, and research and development

– Recruitment and placement agencies for overseas employment

– Advertising and market research

– Computer programming and information management services

– Publishing and printing services

– Film, music, and television production

– Photography, fashion and industrial, graphic and interior design

– Wholesale and retail trade of vehicles and their parts and components, whether such vehicles be fuel, electric, or human powered

– Repair and maintenance of vehicles as defined in the immediately preceding provision as well as its parts or components

– Malls and commercial centers, subject to DTI guidelines

– Dining and restaurants (delivery and take-out only)

– Hardware stores

– Clothing and accessories

– Bookstore and school and office supplies

– Baby or infant care supplies

– Pet food and pet care supplies

– Information technology, communications and electronic equipment

– Flower, jewelry, novelty, antique and perfume shops

– Toy stores (playgrounds, if any, shall be closed)

– Firearms and ammunition trading establishments, subject to strict regulation of the Firearms and Explosives Office

– Pastors, priests, rabbi, imams, and other religious ministers providing home religious services to households
 

– Officials and employees of foreign diplomatic missions and international organizations accredited by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA)

– Private establishment and their employees providing essential goods and services (e.g. public markets, groceries, convenience stores, laundry shops, water-refilling stations, hospitals and medical clinics, pharmacies, and drug stores)

– Manufacturing and processing plants of hygiene products

– Banks, money transfer services, microfinance institutions and cooperatives, excluding pawnshops not performing money transfer, and credit cooperatives, including armored vehicle services, if any

– Capital markets

– Power, energy, water, information technology and telecommunication supplies and facilities, including waste disposal services, as well as property management building utility services

– Energy companies and third-party contractors and service providers

– Telecommunications companies, internet service and cable television providers

– Airline and aircraft maintenance employees (including pilots and crew), ship captains and crew

– Essential projects, public or private (e.g., quarantine facilities, disaster risk reduction and rehabilitation works, sewerage projects, water service facilities projects, digital works)

 – Priority public infrastructure projects and private construction projects (e.g., food production, agriculture, fishery, fishport development, energy, housing, communication, water utilities, manufacturing, BPOs), in accordance with DPWH guidelines

– Workers accredited by the Department of Transportation (DOTr) working on utility relocation works and specified limited works on railway projects

– Funeral and embalming services

– Humanitarian assistance from civil society organizations and non-government organizations

– Veterinary clinics

– Security personnel
 

Residents can only step out to —

– “access essential goods and services;”

– “work in permitted offices or establishments,” or

– do other activities permitted under the Omnibus Guidelines, such as exercising outdoors subject to the observation of with safety measures.

If a person is any of the following, that person has to stay home “at all times”: (a) below 21 years old, (b) 60 years old or above, (c) “with immunodeficiency, comorbidities, or other health risks,” (d) pregnant, or (e) resides with a person referred to in any of (a) to (d). The exceptions are when leaving the home is “indispensable under the circumstances for obtaining essential goods and services, or for work in industries and offices permitted to operate.”
 

Religious gatherings are “highly restricted. These “shall be limited to not more than five persons” and must adhere to “prescribed minimum health standards.”
 

The DOTr has advised that the operation of tricycles during MECQ “may be allowed by the local government and the Department of the Interior and Local Government.” [5]
 

Section 3(16), in relation to Sections 2(11) and 2(12) provide guidelines on the types of ID that will be honored by law enforcement agencies, such as IATF IDs, RapidPass, and “bona fide IDs issued by establishments exempted from the strict home quarantine requirement.”