COVID-19 community quarantines in the Philippines were series of stay-at-home orders and cordon sanitaire measures that have been implemented by the government of the Philippines through its Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID).
As of November 2021, under the original classification system that was enacted in 2020, there were four main quarantine tiers. In Metro Manila there is now an alert level system (ALS) which has been introduced in September 2021 and it is already in place. As of November 2021, all regions of the country have been covered by the ALS system, which has become the national standard.
In the original classification system, the strictest community quarantines is the "enhanced community quarantine" (ECQ), which effectively is a total lockdown. According to the ALS, there are five tiers of alert level, with alert level 1 being the most lenient and alert level 5 being the most strict.
Background
As a result of the rapid increase in the number of cases in Metro Manila, Albay 2nd district representative Joey Salceda put forward a week-long lockdown of the region In order to prevent the disease from spreading across the country. Salceda specifically proposed the closure of the Philippine expressway network and public transportation accessing the region, in addition to the suspension of classes and work. President Rodrigo Duterte initially rejected the proposal claiming it would "hamper the flow of basic commodities". Health Secretary Francisco Duque, however, raised the possibility that if the reports of community-based transmissions are reported, it is possible that a lockdown could be implemented on certain cities or towns, rather than an entire region, as a precaution. On March 12, Duterte announced a partial lockdown covering Metro Manila, that began on March 15.
At one point during Duterte's pronouncement about the Metro Manila "community quarantine," he said that "they are afraid to call it a lockdown, but it is a lockdown." This statement left many confused. His cabinet secretary, Karlo Nograles, later made it clear that the proper term was "community quarantine" and that the president's comment meant that the event was "like a lockdown". Further to that, Nograles said the term "lockdown" would likely end up leading to different interpretations, while "community quarantine" would be a technical term that medical authorities could give meaning to, which would not cause public panic.
When the "community quarantine" was applied to Luzon, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo, said that the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) was equivalent to an "absolute lockdown or total lockdown." Secretary Eduardo Año of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) also said that "enhanced community quarantine" should be considered as a "total lockdown."
Further, Duterte recommended that local governments outside of the National Capital Region implement a community quarantine if, within a given level of local government, a minimum of two COVID-19 cases have been confirmed within a lower level of government within its jurisdictional area; for example, a province-wide quarantine should be implemented if there are at least two COVID-19 cases confirmed within different cities or municipalities in the same province, while a city/municipality-wide quarantine should be implemented if there are at least two COVID-19 cases confirmed within different barangays in the same city or municipality. Upon declaration of a disaster, local government units were also authorized to make use of their quick response funds under the aegis of a state of emergency.
Local government units have been placed under enhanced community quarantine by the national government in Visayas and Mindanao and relevant field offices of the Department of Health the power to lift or extend the lockdown period in their jurisdiction. The imposition of a "localized lockdown" involving measures at the barangay, situ and/or purok levels instead of removing all ECQs has been suggested as an alternative.
On April 6, 2020, the following localities were under enhanced community quarantine: all regions of Luzon, Western Visayas, Caraga Region, Zamboanga Peninsula, Samar, Biliran, Cebu, Negros Oriental, Camiguin, Bukidnon, Sultan Kudarat, Lanao del Sur, Lanao del Norte, Cotabato, South Cotabato, Tawi-Tawi, and the municipality of Catarman in Northern Samar.