{"id":264876,"date":"2020-08-11T07:55:25","date_gmt":"2020-08-11T11:55:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=264876"},"modified":"2020-08-11T07:55:25","modified_gmt":"2020-08-11T11:55:25","slug":"retaining-mecq-in-ncr-nearby-provinces-highly-unlikely-palace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2020\/08\/11\/retaining-mecq-in-ncr-nearby-provinces-highly-unlikely-palace\/","title":{"rendered":"Retaining MECQ in NCR, nearby provinces \u2018highly unlikely\u2019: Palace"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
The quarantine classification in the country\u2019s metropolis and the four provinces was, however, upgraded to MECQ from GCQ until August 18 following the health workers\u2019 appeal for a \u201ctimeout\u201d to prevent the collapse of the country\u2019s healthcare system amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic. (File: PNA photo by Joey O. Razon)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 It would be \u201chighly unlikely\u201d for President Rodrigo Duterte to retain the stricter modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) status in Metro Manila and its nearby provinces, Malaca\u00f1ang said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cAng tanong eh kung<\/em>\u00a0possible:\u00a0Ang sagot ko<\/em>\u00a0(The question is if it\u2019s possible: My answer is) anything is possible but highly unlikely,\u201d Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in a virtual presser, when quizzed if MECQ extension is possible in Metro Manila and its nearby provinces.<\/p>\n

Metro Manila and the provinces of Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal were initially under a more relaxed general community quarantine (GCQ) until August 15.<\/p>\n

The quarantine classification in the country\u2019s metropolis and the four provinces was, however, upgraded to MECQ from GCQ until August 18 following the health workers\u2019 appeal for a \u201ctimeout\u201d to prevent the collapse of the country\u2019s healthcare system amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.<\/p>\n

In a televised public address aired on Monday night, Duterte said he wanted to heed the request of medical front-liners to extend MECQ in Metro Manila and nearby provinces until end of August to curb the spread of Covid-19.<\/p>\n

Duterte, however, admitted that the depleting funds of the government is a hindrance to the possible retention of MECQ status.<\/p>\n

Roque said the \u201cbest\u201d solution to fight Covid-19 is to impose enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) or MECQ, but stressed that the government could no longer afford to provide emergency relief to people who will be most affected by the imposition of stricter quarantine measures.<\/p>\n

\u201cAng<\/em>\u00a0bottomline\u00a0po, naubos na po ang ating<\/em>\u00a0resources for\u00a0ayuda<\/em>\u00a0(The bottomline is we no longer have resources to give assistance),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Asked if the proposed Bayanihan to Recover as One Act (Bayanihan 2) will give additional funding to boost the government\u2019s Covid-19 response, Roque said it still depends on the provisions included in the measure.<\/p>\n

Roque was also unsure whether Bayanihan 2 would contain a provision which allows the government to continue the distribution of cash aid to low-income households.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlam ko po iyan<\/em>\u00a0(Bayanihan 2)\u00a0ay para naman makabangon tayo<\/em>\u00a0(I know it\u2019s for our recovery),\u201d he said. \u201cTignan po natin kung ano ang batas na ipapasa po ng ating Kongreso<\/em>\u00a0(Let\u2019s see what measure will be passed by Congress).\u201d<\/p>\n

The proposed Bayanihan 2, one of the legislative priorities cited by Duterte in his fifth state of the nation address, proposes a PHP162-billion standby fund to support response measures to address Covid-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

The House of Representatives on Monday approved on third and final reading the proposed Bayanihan 2.<\/p>\n

MECQ extension up to IATF<\/strong><\/p>\n

Also on Monday, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana believed that Metro Manila is ready for GCQ after August 18.<\/p>\n

Roque, however, said the decision would still be up to the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID).<\/p>\n

\u201cSa<\/em>\u00a0(For) actual decision, I cannot preempt the IATF so let us wait for the IATF decision,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The IATF-EID is the body tasked to make recommendations on the classifications of community quarantine that will be implemented in the country. The final decision comes from Duterte.<\/p>\n

\u2018Trying hard\u2019 to fight Covid-19<\/strong><\/p>\n

On Monday, the Philippines reported 6,958 new Covid-19 infections, the highest single-day surge for the country.<\/p>\n

The country now has 136,638 confirmed Covid-19 cases, with 68,159 recoveries and 2,294 deaths.<\/p>\n

Vice President Maria Leonor Robredo attributed the rise in Covid-19 cases to the community transmission.<\/p>\n

Roque agreed with Robredo that community transmission is also a challenge for the government.<\/p>\n

\u201cIyan naman po ay kinikilala natin. Talaga naman pong patuloy pa rin ang<\/em>\u00a0community transmission (We acknowledge that. It\u2019s true that community transmission continues),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Roque, nevertheless, assured the public that the government is doing its very best to combat Covid-19.<\/p>\n

He said the government is being \u201caggressive\u201d in conducting tests in villages under localized lockdown, isolating people infected with the new coronavirus, tracing people exposed to infected individuals, and increasing the number of Covid-19 beds.<\/p>\n

He also emphasized that the government is working overtime to contain the spread of the disease.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe may not be as successful, but I can assure you everyone is working, trying hard to find a solution to the problem.\u00a0Kung magkulang man<\/em>, well,\u00a0pagpasensiyahan po. Pero hindi niyo po maakusahan ang gobyernong ito na natutulog sa pansitan<\/em>\u00a0(If our effort is not enough, we apologize. But you cannot accuse the government of not doing anything),\u201d Roque said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA\u00a0\u2013 It would be \u201chighly unlikely\u201d for President Rodrigo Duterte to retain the stricter modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) status …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":264380,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-264876","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-news-ph","mauthors-ruth-abbey-gita-carlos","mauthors-philippine-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264876","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=264876"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264876\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":264881,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264876\/revisions\/264881"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/264380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=264876"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=264876"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=264876"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}