Malacañang lockdown order preempts Davao plan to scale down quarantine

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Mayor Sara Duterte said on Friday, April 24, she would follow the lockdown order from Malacañang, abandoning the plan she announced earlier to ease the community quarantine rules currently in place. 

Earlier, Duterte announced that the city would transition to a modified community quarantine (MCQ) – where mass transportation, albeit in limited in number, and some non-essential shops except for leisure will be allowed to reopen on April 27.

However, on Friday, Malacañang announced that Davao City was among the identified “high risk” areas, where enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) would continue to be implemented. (READ: Cebu, Davao City, other areas in VisMin on lockdown until May 15)

It was based on the recommendation of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Covid-19 which President Rodrigo Duterte approved. 

Speaking over the city-owned Davao City Disaster Radio, Mayor Duterte said in deference to Malacañang’s pronouncement, she was scrapping the idea of an MCQ for the city.

“We cannot go on MCQ on Monday because the IATF came out with the pronouncement that we should still be on ECQ,” she said. “We cannot go against the classification of the national government on area.” 

She said that, as the ECQ gets extended in Davao City, nothing would change.

This meant that the clustering of districts, where residents of one district cannot go to other districts, continues.

“Whatever were are implementing now stands. Mass transportation is still suspended, work from home will remain to be implemented, and we will still use the food and medicine pass system,” Duterte added.

Department of the Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año said local government units may no longer declare their own lockdowns. An LGU will have to seek approval from the national government, before declaring an area locked down. (READ: LGUs can no longer declare lockdowns on their own).

As of Thursday, April 23, the Davao region has 62 patients out of 114 reported to have recovered from the virus.

Nationwide, the number of confirmed cases jumped to 7,192, with 477 deaths and 762 recoveries. – Rappler.com