INQUIRER file photo / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE
MANILA, Philippines — Metro Manila mayors want COVID-19 quarantine restrictions eased further, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) chairman Benjamin Abalos Jr. said Thursday morning.
Abalos said the Metro Manila mayors have agreed to propose to the national government to allow more businesses to reopen or expand operations.
“The mayors last night agreed that they want business to have expanded operations,” Abalos said in Filipino in an interview on ABS-CBN’s Teleradyo.
The mayors have also agreed to increase church capacity to 50 percent, according to Abalos.
Curfew hours, however, will remain from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m.
The National Capital Region mayors are likewise supporting the National Economic and Development Authority’s (NEDA) proposal to include the A4 category in the current COVID-19 vaccination drive.
“At yung definition po ng NEDA, napakaganda, ang definition nila [ng A4] ay lahat ng ito na manggagawa, except those working from home,” said Abalos.
(NEDA defines A4 as all workers, except those working from home.)
This came after the OCTA Research group recommended an extension of the general community quarantine (GCQ) in the NCR Plus bubble, which covers Metro Manila, Cavite, Rizal, Laguna, and Bulacan, adding that “heightened restrictions” under the present GCQ can now be relaxed.
The NCR Plus bubble is currently under general community quarantine until May 31.