MANILA, Philippines – Malacañang announced that types of private construction are now allowed even in areas under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ).

The types of public construction projects allowed have also been expanded.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque announced this amendment to the “Omnibus Guidelines on the Implementation of Community Quarantine in the Philippines” on Saturday, May 9.

This change was approved by the Inter-agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) during their meeting on Friday, May 8.

“Private, public construction projects, infrastructure projects are now allowed under ECQ,” Roque said in Filipino during the Laging Handa virtual press briefing.

The allowed construction projects are deemed “priority,” hence they have been given the green light even under ECQ, the strictest form of community quarantine imposed by the government to curb the coronavirus outbreak.

The types of private construction now allowed are the following:

• food production
• agriculture-related
• fisheries-related
• fish port development
• energy
• housing
• communication
• water facilities
• manufacturing
• business process outsourcing (BPO)

The types of public construction projects allowed are the following:

• construction for quarantine and isolation facilities
• facilities for construction personnel who perform emergency works flood control and other disaster risk and rehabilitation programs
• sewerage projects
• water service facility projects

Before the amendment, only construction projects like isolation and quarantine facilities, health sector-related projects, emergency works, flood control, and disaster risk mitigation and rehabilitation infrastructure were allowed under ECQ.

Because of this development, Roque said that construction workers accredited by the Department of Public Works and Highways can now “report back to their work sites.”

The government task force made the decision days after the National Economic and Development Authority reported that the Philippine economy contracted for the first time in 22 years due to lockdowns, crippled supply chains, and canceled vacations in the first quarter of 2020.

The IATF-EID will again meet on Monday, May 11, before submitting its recommendation to President Rodrigo Duterte on quarantine measures to be enforced after May 15.

May 15 is the last day of ECQ measures declared by Duterte for Metro Manila and other parts of the country. – Rappler.com