By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson yesterday said it will be up to the local government units (LGUs) in the province to decide whether or not they will allow minors in shopping malls.

“I would rather leave the discretion to the respective LGUs,” Lacson said.

However, he advised the local chief executives to seek the advice and opinions of medical doctors first in order to determine if it is indeed safe for minors to enter shopping malls.

Earlier this week, the National Inter-Agency Task Force (NIATF) said minors, as long as accompanied by their parents, may be allowed in shopping malls this holiday season.

However on Thursday, Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo Año made a reversal after he was advised by the Department of Health (DOH) that it was a bad idea as children might catch the coronavirus and inadvertently spread it among their family members.

DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III revealed data showing that of the 430,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country, around 21,447 or five percent are children aged from 0 to 14 years old.

Since March of this year, 123 children have already lost their lives to the deadly virus, 84 of them noted to be just aged between 0 to 4 years old./DGB, WDJ