President Rodrigo Duterte has retracted his order placing Isabela and Iloilo under the more stringent general community quarantine (GCQ) and placed the areas under MGCQ, the least restrictive among community lockdown measures.

In a statement on Friday, Palace spokesman Harry Roque announced that only eight areas would undergo a January-long GCQ.

“(President Duterte) approved the (GCQ) classification of the National Capital Region (NCR), Santiago City, Batangas, Tacloban City, Iligan City, Lanao del Sur, Davao City and Davao del Norte,” he said.

On Dec. 28, Duterte said Isabela and Iloilo would be under GCQ until Jan. 31, 2021, but Roque said areas outside of the eight listed above ” are placed under (MGCQ).”

“The abovementioned risk-level classifications take effect today, Jan. 1 until Jan. 31, 2021,” Roque added.

The Philippines has recorded 475,820 Covid-19 cases as of Jan. 1. John Ezekiel J. Hirro