MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang on Wednesday announced that a unified curfew from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. will be implemented by local government units in Metro Manila.
"I understand the mayors voted. There was a majority, that the curfew hours should be 8 [pm] to 5 [am]," presidential spokesman Harry Roque told CNN Philippines.
According to Roque, the COVID-19 task force discussed the matter during a meeting Tuesday night.
President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday night reverted Metro Manila and nearby provinces back to a general community quarantine (GCQ) after placing it under a stricter modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) for 13 days at the urging of medical frontliners who called for a time out amid a surge in COVID-19 infections.
Roque, that same day, said Metro Manila mayors were in favor of placing the capital region under GCQ but agreed it should not be as lenient as the scenario before the imposition of MECQ.
With the Department of Health reporting 4,836 additional COVID-19 infections on Tuesday, the national caseload is currently logged at 169, 213 while fatalities are at 2,687.
It has been 155 days since the Philippines was first placed under community quarantine — the longest lockdown in the world. — Bella Perez-Rubio