Happy days are here again?
Curfew hours in Metro Manila will be shorter starting this week as the region starts to rehabilitate its economy which has been severely battered by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The curfew in the National Capital Region will start at 12am and end at 4am, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority General Manager Jojo Garcia announced in an online media briefing. However, Navotas will continue to implement the old 8pm to 5am curfew due to the bigger number of residential areas in the city.
Read: Freedom? Metro Manila mayors may allow 18 to 65-year-old residents to leave homes
“We will adjust the curfew to 12am to 4am. And this will happen this week but the mayors [of the different cities] will first fix the ordinances. But expect that within this week the [curfew] will be 12am to 4am except Navotas,” Garcia said in English and Filipino, who added that the adjustments were agreed upon by the Metro Manila mayors and the country’s anti-COVID task force.
Garcia said that those aged 18 to 65 years old will now be allowed to leave their homes. Metro Manila mayors have also recommended allowing churches to accommodate 30% of their usual capacity, but this suggestion will need to be approved by the COVID-19 task force.
The curfew may be shortened further in December to make it possible for residents to attend Simbang Gabi (“Midnight Mass”), a Christmas tradition where people hear Mass at dawn. The curfew hours could be shortened to 12am to 3am starting December 1, Garcia said.
The Philippines has the second-highest number of COVID-19 cases in Southeast Asia, with 356,618 reported as of yesterday. The number includes 310,158 recoveries and 6,652 deaths.
