Palace: Duterte to announce decision on lockdown measures on June 15

MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte will announce his decision whether to lift, extend or modify the different lockdown measures being enforced to contain the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on Monday, June 15, his spokesman Harry Roque said Thursday.

While the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) has already made its recommendation, Roque noted that this is not final yet and is still subject to change.

“Hindi po natin pangungunahan ang Presidente sa kanyang announcement and besides meron pa pong mga apela na mangyayari so ‘yung listahan po ay hindi pa final,” Roque said in a televised press briefing.

(We will not preempt the President in his announcement and there are still appeals that may happen so the list is not final yet.)

Metro Manila, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Pangasinan, Albay, Western Visayas, Cebu City, Mandaue City, and Davao City are at present under a general community quarantine (GCQ) until June 15.

Meanwhile, the rest of the country is under a modified general community quarantine (MGCQ), the least strict form of community quarantine being enforced by the government.

Roque earlier said Metro Manila—where the bulk of COVID-19 infection was recorded— has “even” chances of being downgraded to the most lenient MGCQ or will stay under GCQ.

There are currently 23,732 confirmed COVID-19 cases nationwide, including 4,895 recoveries and 1,027 deaths.

Of this number, over half or 12,831 were recorded in Metro Manila.

/MUF