Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 6) — Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana has refuted claims circulating on social media that the government may impose martial law due to the Philippines’ COVID-19 situation.
“Not true. Fake news. Definitely out of the picture. There is no compelling reason to declare martial law,” he said.
Lorenzana added that while the country faces another COVID-19 surge, the Omicron variant is less severe than Delta.
“The highest we had was 26,000+ last year. Today we have 17,220. This variant while more transmissible is less virulent than Delta. Less people get seriously sick,” he noted.
On Dec. 31, the government announced Metro Manila — the epicenter of the local outbreak — would be placed under the stricter Alert Level 3 following the detection of three local Omicron cases.
After a few days, officials then decided to reimpose Alert Level 3 in Bulacan, Cavite, Rizal, and Laguna.
Asked if the government will impose a hard lockdown, Lorenzana said the pandemic response task force “is still evaluating” the situation.
“But not total lockdown,” he added.
