Duterte expected to announce new quarantine classifications on Monday
MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte is scheduled to announce on Monday the updated quarantine classifications of Metro Manila and other areas and to attend later in the week a Jordan-led virtual conference.
Duterte is expected to return to Manila on Sunday after staying in Davao City for more than three weeks, the longest period of time he stayed in his hometown during the pandemic.
He will meet with members of the government's pandemic task force on Monday to discuss the quarantine classifications at the Malago Clubhouse in Malacañang park.
"He (Duterte) returns to Manila later. He will address the people from [Malago Clubhouse] tomorrow," presidential spokesman Harry Roque said in a text message Sunday.
President Duterte: I’m going to Jolo, diretso ako ngayon sa Jolo, dun sa blast site. Mabigyan ko lang yung mga sandalo natin, mga sundalo ko, mga pulis ko ng importansya sa kanilang kamatayan. I’ll go there to fulfill the duty of a commander in chief. | via @alexisbromero pic.twitter.com/kEdKWFAkgg
— Philstar.com (@PhilstarNews) August 30, 2020
Roque said Duterte would also participate in the Aqaba Process on September 2. The Aqaba Process was launched by Jordanian King Abdullah II in 2015 to "comprehensively address interconnected counter-terrorism and violent extremist threats through informal discussions," according to a previous statement by the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism.
Sen. Christopher Go, Duterte's former aide, said the president is expected to talk about the Philippines' response to the coronavirus pandemic during the forum.
Metro Manila and the provinces of Bulacan, Laguna, Cavite, and Rizal, which contribute about two thirds of the Philippines' economic output, was placed on partial lockdown from August 4 to 18 after healthcare workers requested a two-week "time-out" that would allow the government to improve its pandemic response.
They were placed again under the more lenient general community quarantine last August 19 but stricter measures were imposed like implementing uniform curfew hours and limiting the industries that can resume operations.
Carlito Galvez, Jr., chief implementer of the coronavirus disease policy, previously said placing entire regions under lockdown would harm the economy and that the enforcement of quarantine measures at the local level is "the way forward."
This was echoed by Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, who said a stricter quarantine status would "irreversibly injure, if not damage, the economy beyond repair."
The Philippines already has more than 217,000 coronavirus cases, the highest in Southeast Asia. The pandemic has dragged the Philippines into a recession, with the economy shrinking by a record 16.5% in the second quarter, deeper than the 0.7-percent contraction in the first three months.
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