President Rodrigo Duterte has warned that the government may reimpose stricter restrictions amid the confirmed local transmission of COVID-19 Delta variant.

In the pre-recorded "Talk to the People" aired on Monday night, Duterte said other countries have imposed lockdown again due to Delta variant, which is considered more transmissible than the Alpha variant.

"The reported local cases in the country is a cause for serious alarm and concern. Again, it's redundant but still it is good as - it's good as any warning that can be given to the people," he said.

"We may need to reimpose stricter restrictions to avoid mass gathering and rpevent superspreader event. Now, it is not only Indonesia; Korea and Taiwan were also hit. They imposed lockdown because of the entry of Delta variant," Duterte said.

He expressed hope that the government's "existing infrastructure" in dealing with the problem of COVID-19 could cope up with the Delta variant.

He hoped that the vaccines for COVID-19 being used in the country could be as effective in dealing the new variant.

"Once it (Delta variant) will spread, I hope it will not, then we'll have have to go again to stricter measure," he stressed.

Duterte ordered the Department of Interior and Local Government and the Philippine National Polcie to implement the existing protocols "with greater urgency and necessity.

"It is only by imposing these restrictions that we can fight the threat of Delta variant. Now, remember that the reason why the security forces of the government are very strict is not because they want to be strict and they want to make it hard for the people move. Rather they are strict because they want to protect the country from a very contagious disease and maybe cause more deaths more than the lives that we lost in the past," he said.

He said the public should not get angry with the police and the military when they implement his order as they are just doing their duty.

"So kindly understand that. They would be the last or the least of the persons to tinker with the lives of people except that when they are called upon to do a duty, they do it with - because they know the danger," he said.

Duterte also asked the national and local governments to heighten their vaccination information and education campaigh to further increase the number of people availing of the free vaccination.

For those who do not believe in vaccination, he said they better not go out of their houses.

"You are antisocial because in face of the danger confronting you and knowing fully well that it is really dangerous, you choose the path of this resistance by just not getting the vaccine at all," he added. Celerina Monte/DMS