Most metro mayors favor shift to GCQ by June — MMC chair

Joint Task Force Covid Shield Commander, Police Lt. Gen. Guiilermo Eleazar and Highway Patrol Group Director Eliseo Cruz lead the inspection of checkpoints in Marcos Highway at the boundary of Metro Manila and Rizal on May 18, 2020, during the modified enhanced community quarantine.
(Niño Jesus Orbeta/Philippine Daily Inquirer)

MANILA, Philippines — Fourteen of the 17 mayors in Metro Manila favor the shift from the modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) to a general community quarantine (GCQ) by June, Paranaque City Mayor and Metro Manila Council chairman Edwin Olivarez said Monday.

“Prolonged community quarantine will have severe economic effects which in and of themselves, will impact the lives of people so negatively,” Olivarez said.

Olivarez also said that the council is set to meet again on Wednesday, to come up with single recommendation on whether or not to downgrade the community quarantine status in the metropolis.

Several sectors were allowed to partially operate starting May 16 in areas under MECQ in areas deemed high risk to COVID-19 infection including Metro Manila—the country’s economic center— in a bid to restart the country’s economy heavily battered by the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Meanwhile, areas with “low” to “moderate” risk for an outbreak are placed under GCQ, where some movement restriction will be lifted.

The order will be in effect until May 31.

Under GCQ, public transportation resumes at a reduced capacity, people can go back to work in certain sectors, and “non-leisure” establishments can open apart from essential ones.

JPV