Metro Manila mayors have agreed to shorten the curfew hours in the National Capital Region (NCR) to four hours, from 12 midnight to 4 a.m., except in Navotas City, Metro Manila Council (MMC) Chairman and Parañaque City Mayor Edwin Olivarez said on Monday. 

Olivarez said during an interview over CNN Philippines that this agreement was reached with members of the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases during the MMC’s weekly meeting on Sunday night, October 18. 

“Ang recommendation din po ng atin pong Metro Manila Council, at nandoon po lahat ng ating mayor, na i-maintain po yung protocol na sinasabi ng IATF na 12 o’clock to 4 o’clock in the morning (The MMC, with all the mayors present, recommended to accept the IATF proposal for shortened curfew hours),” he disclosed.

Olivarez said only Navotas City decided to keep its curfew hours from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. Starting Wednesday (October 21) until November 30, 2020, Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso said curfew in Manila will start from 12 a.m. to 4 a.m., from the current 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. 

It will be further shortened by an hour – 12 a.m. to 3 a.m. – after December 1, the mayor added. 

"With the help of the vice mayor and the city council... we are going to adjust our curfew hours and hopefully it will be pass today in the city council," Domagoso told reporters on Monday, October 19. 

However, the local chief executive said the 8 p.m. curfew for minors will remain. 

"Let me remind that there is still also an existing ordinance that never na-amyendahan, 'yung ating curfew na 8 sa minors (that was never amended, our 8 p.m. curfew for minors). 

Still effective, it's still being implemented, and parents are going to be held liable if they're irresponsible allowing their minors to be outside of their home come 8 p.m. every day. So tuloy pa rin sila (It is still in effect)," Domagoso said. 

Aside from the shortened curfew hours, Olivarez said the Metro Manila mayors have also agreed to increase the capacity of churchgoers in the NCR. 

“We will be increasing the capacity of all the churchgoers. Now it is 10 percent, it will be 30 percent,” the MMC chairman said. 

Regarding church capacity, Domagoso said he is set to sign an executive order that will allow 30 percent capacity of devotees in churches from the current 10 percent capacity. 

Olivarez also reminded the public that all cemeteries will be closed from October 29 to November 5. He assured that each city in Metro Manila has its own guidelines and will not allow overcrowding in all cemeteries. 

“We will implement the physical distancing among the visitors in all memorial parks,” he said. (With a report from Joseph Pedrajas)