Bacolod City and Negros Occidental will remain under Modified General Community Quarantine (MGCQ) in May despite the surge in COVID-19 cases in both areas.
The Department of Health in Western Visayas on Monday, April 26, classified Bacolod City as a high risk COVID-19 area, and Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson earlier asked that Negros Occidental be placed under General Community Quarantine (GCQ) so more stringent measures could be imposed to curb the spread of the virus in the province.
However, President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday, April 28, approved the recommendation of the Inter-Agency Task Force to place Negros Occidental and Bacolod City among the areas in the country that will remain under MGCQ for the month of May, Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said.
The president also approved the recommendation to extend the Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ) classification of the National Capital Region, Bulacan, Rizal, Laguna and Cavite starting May 1 until May 14.
Santiago City and Quirino Province in Region 2 and Abra in the Cordillera Administrative Region will also be placed under MECQ for the whole month of May.
Apayao, Baguio City, Benguet, Ifugao, Kalinga, Mountain Province in CAR; Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya in Region 2; Batangas and Quezon in Region 4-A; Tacloban City in Region 8; Iligan City in Region 10; Davao City in Region 11; and Lanao del Sur in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao will be placed under GCQ from May 1-31, Roque said.
All other areas will be placed under MGCQ for the month of May, he added.
This new community quarantine classification is subject to the appeals of the local government units, Roque said.*