Albay 2nd District Representative Joey Sarte Salceda backs Acting Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Chua to place a nationwide modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) status.

Areas across the country vary from enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), general community quarantine (GCQ), and modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) depending on the number of COVID-19 cases.

With that in mind, Salceda calls for a “strong vaccination program”, along with the support of the public transportation system.

“The impact of the shift to MGCQ will not be as large as quick vaccine rollout, because only NCR and a few provinces and cities are still in GCQ,” he said.

“The vaccination for our healthcare workers must go hand-in-hand with reopening, however. It will ensure that we have the healthcare human resource needed to address any spike due to loosened restrictions,” the House Ways and Means Chair added.

“I do not want a partial restoration while we already have MGCQ. We need to increase public transport at the same time we shift to MGCQ. Otherwise, we will be making life very difficult and unsafe for many workers,” he suggested.

Around 573,000 workers are expected to return to their workplaces once the quarantine status eases.