BY RAYMUND ANTONIO
The government will reassess the proposed nationwide shift to the modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) before the end of March if the country’s COVID-19 vaccination program starts in a few weeks, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said Tuesday.
Nograles made the announcement after President Duterte on Monday rejected the proposal for the nationwide shift to MGCQ, preferring to do it instead once the vaccination starts.
Philippines was scheduled to start inoculating health workers in mid-February as it expected the arrival of some 117,000 doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine, but this was delayed because of an issue on indemnification.
“During the entire month of March, makikita natin ang rollout ng vaccination program. Before the end of March, we will make our recommendations to the President. Of course, at any given point in time, the President may also give a decision with regards to MGCQ for the entire country,” Nograles said in a virtual media briefing.
He noted that the Cabinet was bound to make assessments and recommendations to the President on a month-to-month basis because this has been the norm for the Inter-agency Task Force (IATF) against COVID-19.
“We will stick to that (month-to-month process),” Nograles said when asked whether the government should set a target date for assessing the country’s preparedness to shift to MGCQ.
The IATF makes recommendations to the President before the first day of the month, the Cabinet secretary explained.
“There is a time for everything,” he quoted President Duterte as saying during the Cabinet meeting on Monday night.
“The President believes the same prudent approach should likewise apply with regard to the proposed nationwide shift to MGCQ,” Nograles said, referring to the President’s decision to reject the proposed start of face-to-face classes for the same reason.
Although Duterte recognizes the need to restart the economy and “resume the pre-pandemic upward trajectory and sustained growth of the economy,” he noted that this “should be done side by side with measures that will ensure that we do not compromise efforts to contain COVID-19.” (Raymund Antonio)
