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Senate to resume sessions regardless of quarantine status -- Sotto

Philippines | National

Senate to resume sessions regardless of quarantine status -- Sotto

By Vanne Elaine Terrazola

The Senate will resume plenary sessions next week even if the government decides to extend the implementation of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in Metro Manila.

Senate President Vicente Sotto III bangs the gavel to resume their hybrid plenary session on May 17, 2021. (Joseph Vidal/Senate PRIB)

"We will indeed resume wether ECQ is extended or not," Senate President Vicente Sotto III said in a text message to reporters Thursday, August 19.

The upper chamber's plenary sessions, held in the afternoon from Monday to Wednesday, have been suspended since August 9 due to the reimposition of the ECQ over Metro Manila.

The ECQ was set to end on Friday, August 20.

Mayors in the region have left to the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases to decided whether or not to extend the strictest quarantine classification.

According to Interior Secretary Eduardo AÃ±o, the IATF is mulling whether to extend the ECQ for another week, or to relax it to a modified ECQ.

Sotto said they could call the plenary sessions earlier than 3 p.m. in consideration of the curfew hours being implemented in the region.

Related Tags

Tito Sotto ECQ Senate plenary session covid-19 suspension quarantine

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