MMC head supports Metro Manila shifting to GCQ by June 1

MANILA, Philippines — The chairman of the Metro Manila Council (MMC) and Parañaque City Mayor Edwin Olivarez is supporting a downgrade of Metro Manila’s lockdown category to the less strict general community quarantine (GCQ) by June 1.

Metro Manila was placed under modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) since May 16 as it remained “high-risk” for COVID-19 transmission.

“In his (Olivarez) personal opinion, he is agreeable for the shifting of MECQ to GCQ in the National Capital Region starting June 1, because the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in Metro Manila alone is horrible and horrifying for the community quarantine was enforced,” according to a statement from the Parañaque Public Information Office (PIO) on Saturday.

The Parañaque PIO said Olivarez believes the pandemic is creating a “devastating effect” on the livelihood of workers and employers. Olivarez, it added, even proposed that barbershops, salons, and other personal care services will be allowed to open under GCQ.

Under GCQ, malls and shopping centers may open but establishments offering leisure and entertainment services will remain closed.

READ: LIST: What constitutes ECQ, GCQ, and ‘modified’ ECQ areas?

The Parañaque PIO also said the MMC, which consists of 17 mayors in the National Capital Region, will have “an urgent meeting” to decide whether to lift or extend the MECQ on June 1.

According to the statement, the MMC meeting in the Metro Manila Development Authority office will be on Wednesday, May 27.

Consequently, the MMC is expected to submit its recommendation to the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID), which will then decide whether to extend the MECQ in Metro Manila or change it to GCQ.

KGA