Año: Local execs abetting mass gatherings face raps

Interior Secretary Eduardo Año warned on Sunday local chief executives that they face administrative or criminal raps if they fail to strictly enforce restrictions on mass gatherings in their respective localities, particularly in areas under strict lockdown. Año pointed out that local officials needed to come up with ordinances and implement them. “Local government units have a critical role in enforcing mass gathering regulations as they are nearer to their constituencies compared to the national government,” he said on Sunday. Mass gatherings are banned in areas under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), modified ECQ, and general community quarantine.

—Jeannette I. Andrade