(Eagle News)–President Rodrigo Duterte has extended the enhanced community quarantine in Luzon to April 30, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said on Tuesday, April 7.
In a virtual press conference, Nograles said this was after the President accepted the recommendation of the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases for the extension of the ECQ, which was only supposed to last until April 13.
The IATF had made the recommendation in a bid to slow down the COVID-19 virus, which has so far killed over 100 in the country.
“Provided, that all exemptions granted by the Office of the President or the IATF shall continue to be in effect for the duration of the extended ECQ,” Nograles said, citing the IATF resolution passed on Monday.
According to Nograles, based on the resolution, this was “provided further that such extension of the ECQ shall be without prejudice to the discretion of the President to relax the implementation of the ECQ in some local jurisdictions, or the granting of exemptions in favor of certain sectors, as public health considerations and food security may warrant.”
Nograles made the revelation a day after President Duterte said in his public address he was “inclined” to make the extension to ensure the spread of COVID-19 would slow down.
He also urged Finance Secretary Sonny Dominguez to look for other sources of funds, noting the P275 billion approved by Congress under the Bayanihan We Heal As One Act was not enough to address the COVID-19 crisis.
