(Eagle News) – Malacanang on Friday, May 1, released the executive order signed by President Rodrigo Duterte that imposed the Enhanced Community Quarantine in ‘high risk geographic areas” of the country, and a General Community Quarantine” for the rest of the country which is effective May 1 to May 15.
E.O. no. 112 dated April 30, 2020 listed the areas covered by the ECQ that had already been previously announced, namely National Capital Region; Region 3 (Central Luzon) except Aurora; Region 4-A (Calabarzon); Pangasinan; Benguet; Iloilo province; Iloilo City; Cebu province; Cebu City; City of Bacolod; City of Davao.
“For the same period, a GCQ is hereby imposed in all other areas of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, provided that, as a precondition, minimum health standards are achieved and continuously observed in these areas,” President Duterte said in the EO.
“Any existing community quarantine imposed by an LGU, regardless of nomenclature, shall cease to take effect on 12:01 a.m. of 01 May 2020, and shall be superseded by the ECQ or GCQ herein set forth,” it said.
-E.O. says IATF may lift GCQ in low-risk areas after May 15-
In E.O. 112, President Duterte said that the “IATF may lift the GCQ in low risk areas” after May 15, “provided that no deterioration in their risk level occurs.”
Section 2 of the E.O. gives the IATF the authority to “impose, lift or extend a community quarantine” in provinces, highly urbanized cities, and independent component cities” beginning May 16.
But it also gives the local government unit executives such as the provincial governor the authority to “impose, lift or extend a community quarantine” only “upon the concurrence of the relevant regional counterpart body of the IATF.”
Likewise, mayors of cities and municipalities are “authorized to impose lift or extend ECQ in barangays, upon the concurrence of the relevant regional counterpart body of the IATF.”
“This is without prejudice to the authority of the IATF to directly impose, lift or extend ECQ in these areas should circumstances call for it,” E.O. 112 said.
“No LGU shall declare its own community quarantine, regardless of nomenclature, without observing the foregoing procedure,” it said.
The E.O. through Section 3, also confirmed and adopted the IATF’s resolution no. 30 that set the “Omnibus Guidelines for the implementation of community quarantine in the Philippines” including amendments made on May 1 such as the prohibition on “religious gatherings and non-essential work gatherings.”
President Duterte, in E.O. 112, recognized that “these challenging times call for the full and sincere cooperation of all LGUs, in the true spirit of nationalism and bayanihan, as unilateral decisions to close off territorial boundaries and restrict movement of workers and cargoes compromise the collective interests of all Filipinos and the country as a whole.’
“There is a need to build on the existing response measures of the government relative to the COVID-19 outbreak, maximize the gains we have achieved so far, and complement efforts to strengthen the health systems capacity of hospitals, medical facilities and LGUs,” he added.
E.O. 112 was published in the Philippine government’s “Official Gazette” on May 1.
(Eagle News Service)