Enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), or the Philippines’ strictest lockdown, is now in effect in Metro Manila, Laguna, Iloilo City, and Cagayan de Oro City.

By now, the ECQ is all too familiar for the millions of residents who’d experienced it two other times. But the government has tweaked quarantine restrictions over the past year.

Which establishments are open at this time? The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) on Saturday, August 7, released guidelines on how much capacity establishments can operate during ECQ.

Full on-site capacity

The following business establishments and activities can open at full (100%) on-site capacity during ECQ:

• Public and private hospitals
• Emergency and frontline services in health facilities (dialysis centers, chemotherapy centers, health maintenance organizations, health insurance providers), disaster risk reduction management officers, and public safety officers
• Manufacturers of medicines, vitamins, medical supplies, devices and equipment, including suppliers of input, packaging, and distribution
• Industries involved in agriculture, forestry, fishery, other components of the food value chain, including farmers and fisherfolk
• Logistics service providers, like delivery and courier services
• Essential and priority construction projects, whether public and private, as well as companies that manufacture equipment necessary to produce construction or maintenance works
• Manufacturing related to food, beverage, and other essential goods including but not limited to soap and detergents, disinfectants, personal hygiene products, diapers
• Essential retail trade and service establishments, like public markets, grocery stores, convenience stores, pharmacies, hardware, bookstores and office supplies, bicycle shops, laundry shops, and water-refilling stations
• Takeout and delivery for food preparation establishments
• Public and private financial service providers involved in distributing government amelioration subsidies (ayuda)
• Business process outsourcing establishments, export-oriented businesses, mining and quarrying
• Public transport providers and operators

Half on-site capacity

Media organizations may observe an on-site capacity of up to 50%.

Skeletal on-site capacity

During ECQ, these establishments and services must operate at a skeletal on-site capacity:

• Dental, rehabilitation, optometry and other medical clinics for the treatment of illness or injuries (emergency cases only)
• Veterinary clinics
• Banks, money transfer services, pawnshops, microfinance institutions, credit cooperatives
• Capital markets
• Water supply and janitorial/sanitation services and facilities
• Energy sector
• Telecommunications companies, internet service providers, cable television providers
• Airline and aircraft maintenance
• Funeral and embalming services
• Security personnel licensed by the Philippine National Police
• Printing establishments authorized by the Bureau of Internal Revenue
• Businesses handling repair and maintenance of machinery and equipment
• Leasing of real and personal properties
• Employment activities involving recruitment and placement
• Teachers, professors, other staff for conducting online classes, processing student requirements and grades
• Lawyers, only when required to provide on-site legal representation necessary to protect rights of persons
• Establishments involved in the buying and selling of consumer goods or services via the internet
• Payroll and accounting managers and employees

On-site operations prohibited

These industries and establishments are not allowed to conduct on-site operations during the ECQ period:

• Indoor and outdoor dine-in services at restaurants
• Other non-essential manufacturing such as, but not limited to: electrical machinery, wood products, furniture, non-metallic products, textiles, paper and paper products, rubber and plastic products, computer and electronic products, motor vehicles, other transport equipment
• Non-essential retail trade and service establishments such as clothing and accessories, flowers, jewelry, novelty, antique, perfume shops, toy stores, music stores, art galleries (selling only), and firearms and ammunition trading
• Office administrative activities such as photocopying, billing, record-keeping
• Other financial services like money exchange, insurance, lending companies, non-compulsory pension funding
• Management consultancy activities
• Architecture and engineering
• Scientific and research development
• Advertising and market research
• Computer programming
• Publishing and printing services, including newspapers and books
• Film, music, and TV production
• Photography, fashion, industrial, graphic, and interior design
• Motor vehicles trade
• Travel agencies, tour operators, and related activities
• Pet grooming services
• Driving schools (subject to Department of Transportation guidelines)
• Testing and tutorial centers
• Review centers
• Language, dance, acting, voice schools
• Indoor and outdoor sports, courts, or venues, including non-contact and contact sports
• Indoor and outdoor tourist attractions
• Venues for meetings, conferences, exhibitions
• Social events in eligible venue establishments
• Personal care services, like beauty salons, barbershops, medical aesthetic clinics, dermatology clinics, massage therapy, tattoo parlors
• Cinemas
• Amusement parks or theme parks
• Casinos, lottery and betting shops, other gaming establishments, and the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office
• Horse racing
• Recreational venues such as internet cafes, billiard halls, amusement arcades, bowling alleys
• Traditional cockfighting
• Entertainment venues with live performances, such as bars, clubs, concert halls, theaters
• Fairs, kid amusement industries such as playgrounds and playrooms

You can read the DTI’s full guidelines here. It includes information on which businesses can open when restrictions loosen up again:

– Michelle Abad/Rappler.com