CHAIRMAN Benjamin “Benhur” Abalos Jr. of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) on Thursday gave assurances that the Metro Manila Council’s (MMC) decision and recommendation will be “most beneficial” to the residents of the National Capital Region (NCR). It will put utmost importance to a balance between the health and safety of the public on one hand and the economy on the other.
Abalos said the MMC, together with representatives from Department of Health (DOH) and National Economic and Development Authority, among others, met on Wednesday night and gave their recommendation for the quarantine status come May 15.
“However, the body agreed to keep the recommendation confidential. This same recommendation will be presented to the IATF [Inter-Agency Task Force] at its meeting today [May 13] which in turn will be presented to President Rodrigo Duterte who has the final say on the matter,” Abalos said.
Abalos stressed that their recommendation was based on all factors presented, such as hospitals’ capacity, arrival of vaccines, decrease in the number of new Covid-19 cases, and present economic conditions.
“Rest assured that the decision and recommendation reached upon by the Metro Manila mayors will be most beneficial to the residents of the National Capital Region, putting utmost importance to a balance between health and safety of the public and on the economy,” Abalos concluded.