The Duterte Cabinet has proposed to local government units to reduce their curfew period to four hours in line with efforts to revive the economy amid the coronavirus pandemic, a Palace official said Wednesday.
According to Presidential spokesman Harry Roque, the Cabinet has backed the proposal to shorten the curfew hours from 12 a.m. to 4 a.m. from the current 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. implemented in many areas.
He recognized that the local government units have the authority to pass ordinances on the curfew period in their areas of jurisdiction.
"Ang desisyon po ng Gabinete, irekomenda na nga sa lahat ng mga local government units na paikliin na iyong curfew. Ito po ay rekomendasyon sa mga local government units, dahil sila naman po ang magpapatupad nito sa pamamagitan ng mga ordinansa (The decision of the Cabinet is to recommend to all local government units to shorten the curfew. This will be the recommendation to all local government units because they will implement it through ordinances)," he said over state television.
When asked if the proposed curfew hours will be from midnight to 4 a.m., Roque said: "Iyan po ay rekomendasyon ng Gabinete, pero siyempre po dahil magpapasa sila ng ordinansa, nasa lokal na pamahalaan po iyan. (That's the recommendation of the Cabinet but of course because they will have to pass an ordinance, that is up to the local government unit)," he said.
The decision to relax movement restrictions and further open up the economy and public transportation was reached during a meeting of President Duterte and the Cabinet in Malacañang Monday.
The President and the Cabinet endorsed the recommendations of the economic cluster to gradually allow more business operations, increase transportation capacity by implementing a one-seat apart rule, expand the age bracket of people allowed to leave their homes,
and shorten curfew hours as part of stimulating economic activity during the pandemic.
Local government units have imposed curfew as part of the lockdown measures to curb the transmission of COVID-19.