Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles labeled as fake news rumors circulating that Metro Manila will revert to the modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) for the holidays as the government's pandemic task force has yet to meet again.
(PCOO / FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)
In a radio interview Sunday afternoon, Nograles said that the rumors are far from the truth.
"Fake news na fake news po 'yan... Wala pong katotohanan. Napakalayo sa katotohanan (That is fake news. There's no truth to that. That is far from the truth)," he told Super Radyo DZBB.
Nograles, Inter-agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases co-chair, explained the collegial body only makes their recommendations about quarantine classifications at the end of the month.
"Ang ginagawa namin every month kami nagdedesisyon bago sumapit ‘yung buwan (What we do is we make a decision every month before the next month comes)," he said.
"Tulad ng Disyembre, bago sumapit ang buwan ng Disyembre, kami ay nagbibigay na ng abiso kung ano ‘yung magiging community quarantine sa buwan ng Disyembre (Like for December. Before December, we gave our recommendations about the quarantine classifications for this month)," he added.
According to the Palace official, the IATF will meet after Christmas to decide on the quarantine classifications for January.
"Siguro by Dec. 31 may desisyon na naman ang Pangulo para sa Enero. Ganun po yun. Month by month na po kami (President Duterte will make his decision for January 2021 by Dec. 31. That's how it works. We do it per month)," Nograles said.
However, despite the prevailing quarantine classifications for this month, Nograles said that local government units (LGUs) are allowed to place certain areas in their jurisdiction under lockdown.
"Depende na 'yan sa LGUs kung maglo-localize (lockdown) sila (It depends on the LGUs if they will have localized lockdowns)," he said.
"’Yung localized lockdown, street-level lang ’ yun, or purok-level or barangay-level. Hindi region-level (The localized lockdown will only be street-, purok-, or barangay-level and not regional)," he added.