Many of Metro Manila’s mayors want the curfew in their respective jurisdictions to remain at 10 p.m. to 5 a.m., according to Interior Undersecretary Epimaco Densing.
“As far as I know, the local governments in the National Capital Region maintain the position to keep [the current curfew hours],” Densing said at the online Laging Handa briefing on Friday.
Exemption
But he said San Juan Mayor Francis Zamora had sought an exemption to the unified curfew in Metro Manila to have it changed and imposed from midnight to 5 a.m. in his city.
Cabinet members had earlier recommended a shorter curfew—from midnight to 4 a.m.—to help boost business activity as the economy is gradually reopened.
The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) and even the Department of the Interior and Local Government have also called on local governments to relax curfew hours, especially in areas that have seen a downtrend in coronavirus infections.
The task force also asked local governments not to cover workers, authorized persons outside of residence, and essential establishments in the application of their curfew ordinances.
Infections down
“At the end of the day, it is up to assessment of the local chief executives or mayors when they want to relax the curfew,” Densing said.
He said Metro Manila’s performance had been better because in the last seven to 10 days, COVID-19 infections had gone down to 700 to 800 per day, from the 2,000 to 3,000 per day recorded in previous weeks.
Also on Friday, Bishop Broderick Pabillo, apostolic administrator of the Roman Archdiocese of Manila, met with Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso to ask for a shorter curfew in time for Misa de Gallo, or the nine-day dawn Mass leading to Christmas.
Domagoso in turn asked the Church to prepare its own guidelines for the observance of the Yuletide tradition amid the pandemic.
Like other cities in Metro Manila, Manila still imposes the curfew from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. —LEILA B. SALAVERRIA AND JODEE A. AGONCILLO