The world as we know it came to an abrupt halt once the COVID pandemic spread. It changed pretty much every aspect of our lives, how to work, to do business and most importantly in our case, how to study and attend our law classes. But one part of the local governments’ policy in COVID response has really been a thorn on our side from the very beginning. No, it’s not the liquor ban or curfew hours as spurious and illogical they may be. It is the Sunday Lockdown.

As early as the pandemic had spread across the country, local government units had implemented the Sunday Lockdown. Basically, the Sunday lockdown prohibits any travel within or even outside a city or municipality concerned on Sunday. Malls and business establishments are also forced to be closed with the liquor ban also in full force. In legal terms, the LGUs who adopted such measure were invoking Section 16 of the Local Government Code, more popularly known as the General Welfare Clause which basically legislatively grants and justifies the exercise of police power by these political subdivisions.

When the LGUs finally lifted the Sunday Lockdown, it was like a wave of euphoria spread across the land. The highways and roads were crowded, beach resorts fully booked and businesses were gaining profit on a day that was considered as a liability for such. It was almost like the repeal of “Blue Laws” in the United States, which were local legislation that prohibited the operation of businesses and drinking of alcohol on Sunday as such laws were intertwined with the religious teaching that Sunday is the Lord’s Day. People now started to appreciate Sundays as rest days and such day was given even more importance for family bonding and the like. So I guess you could say that the lifting of the Sunday Lockdown was like setting free flocks of birds once caged up for a long time. Truly, such gave us a feeling of emancipation, or to simply put it, FREEDOM.