(File photo)
MANILA – President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. will likely consider the recommendation of health officials to extend or not the validity of the state of calamity in the country due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Malacañang said Thursday.
Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles made this remark with just a month left until the validity of the state of calamity proclamation issued by Marcos’ predecessor, former President Rodrigo Duterte, will expire.
“It will depend on the recommendation of the [Department of Health] DOH, but we will make the announcement when the time comes,” she said in a Palace press briefing.
The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the Covid-19 outbreak as a global pandemic in March 2020.
Duterte issued on March 16, 2020 Proclamation 929, declaring a state of calamity all throughout the country for six months due to Covid-19.
He later issued Proclamation No.1021 to extend the validity of the state of calamity for one year from Sept. 13, 2020 to Sept. 12, 2021.
The former president extended the state of calamity for a third time through Proclamation No.1218 following a surge in daily Covid-19 infections.
Proclamation No.1218 will be in effect until Sept. 12, 2022, “unless earlier lifted or extended as circumstances may warrant”.
In his first State of the Nation Address on July 25, Marcos promised that he will no longer declare restrictive lockdowns even as Covid-19 cases increase.
Instead, he wants the government to ramp up its Covid-19 vaccination and booster drive to achieve its target of administering at least 23 million Covid-19 booster shots within his first 100 days in office.
Metro Manila and other parts of the country continue to be under Alert Level 1 until August 15.
On Wednesday, the DOH registered 3,181 new Covid-19 infections, increasing the nationwide tally to 3,813,952. (PNA)
