Roque says another ECQ extension unlikely due to scarcity of funds
With funds running low, Malacanang is hoping to downgrade the lockdown classification of Metro Manila, Cavite, Bulacan, Rizal and Laguna to a less restrictive classification by next week.
In an interview this morning on ANC, palace spokesperson Harry Roque bared that there will be no budget left to support affected residents if the enhanced community quarantine gets extended for another week.
“Given what [Budget] Secretary [Wendel] Avisado said that we have no more funds for ayuda, and Congress currently is in recess so if we need a supplemental budget, we would have to request for a special session. I don’t think ECQ for a third week is actually a possibility,” Roque said in the interview.
Under the supplemental amelioration program, the Department of Budget and Management has allocated a P1,000 aid to residents affected by the ECQ that was drawn from a P23-billion balance left from the funds of Bayanihan 2.
In the same interview, Roque also said that the proposed "household lockdown" put forward by Marikina Rep. Stella Quimbo would be too costly at this point.
The ECQ over the areas covering the so-called “NCR Plus” was initially announced for one week ending April 4, but was extended for another week up to April 11 due to the unrelenting surge in new COVID-19 infections. The government has mainly tagged the emergence of the more contagious COVID-19 variants and the low public compliance on minimum public health standards as main drivers for the surge.
Roque said they will follow the recommended model of the Department of Health of a two-week ECQ followed by the more lenient modified ECQ or MECQ.
“We expect numbers to go down by 4,000 a day by May 15, so that's the model we are pursuing,” Roque said.
From just 1,000-2,000 new COVID-19 cases in a day last February, the daily infection rate has now shot up to over 10,000 a day last March, hitting a record-high of 15,310 on Good Friday, April 2.
During the televised press briefing, Roque said the decision to downgrade from GCQ to MECQ will be ultimately decided once the strategy of the government to contain the spread of COVID-19 bears fruit hopefully within the week.
“Puwede lang tayo mag shift sa lower pag nakita na nagkakaroon ng bunga yung pinaigting na PIDTR (Prevent - Detect - Isolate - Treat - Reintegrate),” said Roque.
DOH Usec. Maria Rosario Vergeire echoed the same point in the same briefing.
“Maari lang po tayong makapag-shift sa mas mababang quarantine classification katulad ng MECQ kung makikita na po nating mas umaayos na po ang ating health system at mayroon na tayong agarang detection at isolation,” Vergeire said.
(Thumbnail and banner photo by KRIZJOHN ROSALES, The Philippine Star)