Palace spokesman Harry Roque on Wednesday hinted at the possibility of imposing stricter community quarantine measures should Covid-19 cases continue to rise.
“That’s a distinct possibility, although it’s a possibility that I wish would not happen because we all know that while we have to contain the disease, we also need to re-start our livelihoods,” Palace spokesman Harry Roque said in an interview over CNN Philippines’ The Source.
“We’ve come to a very crucial point where I think the economy can no longer afford to be shut down anew but if we have to and there’s no alternative, we need to do it,” he added.
The National Capital Region (NCR) has been under general community quarantine (GCQ) since June 1.
It was supposed to return to a stricter modified enhanced community quarantine last July 16, but Metro Manila mayors committed to tighten the implementation of localized lockdowns and appealed to the Palace to maintain the GCQ.
Roque was confident the public would remain cooperative and compliant with health guidelines, after the Philippines ranked second in compliance with mask-wearing protocols.
“I inherently believe they (Filipinos) are not pasaway,” he said.
NCR will remain under GCQ until July 31. John Ezekiel J. Hirro