Taguig Mayor Lino Cayetano on Wednesday said he prefers to keep Metro Manila under general community quarantine (GCQ) to further contain the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.
“(To contain) any possible surge I agree that we maintain the GCQ. Pero sa loob naman ng (But within) GCQ, we are given authority, the LGUs (local government units), to enforce rules within our territory. While the NCR (National Capital Region) still has many cases, I think our situation is good as compared to other cities in the world because we are able to contain the pandemic. We just need to remain vigilant,” Cayetano said on the sidelines of the visit of the Coordinated Operations to Defeat Epidemic (CODE) Team, led by the National Task Force (NTF) and the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) to the city.
Metro Manila mayors met on Tuesday night to come up with a recommendation to the IATF regarding the quarantine classification in the region starting February 1.
“But [the] Metro Manila Council, through our GM (General Manager) Jojo Garcia, will make the official announcement. (However), in Taguig, what we can assure is we strictly enforce the rules. Nakikinig tayo sa mga eksperto at malapit na makikipag ugnayan sa national government (We listen to the experts and coordinate closely with the national government) so we really want to be a model city in terms of cooperation, unity, and execution,” Cayetano added.
Metro Manila, the center of economic activities and accounts for the biggest chunk of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), is currently under GCQ until January 31.
In areas under GCQ, only people aged 15 to 65 years old are allowed to leave their homes.
In his public address on Monday night, President Rodrigo Duterte rejected the IATF’s move to allow children aged 10-14 years old in areas under modified GCQ to leave their homes in the wake of the threat of the B.1.1.7 SARS-CoV-2 (United Kingdom) variant. (PNA)
