President Duterte had extended the state of calamity in the Philippines for one year.
President Rodrigo Duterte had extended the state of calamity in the Philippines for one year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This, after the initial declaration — the Proclamation No. 929 declaring a State of Calamity throughout the country because of COVID-19 — that was signed last March 16 expired this week as the said Proclamation was only effective for six months.
As stated in Proclamation 1021 that was signed last Wednesday, the extension took effect on September 13, 2020, and would last until September 12, 2021, unless earlier lifted or extended as “circumstances may warrant”.
President Duterte said that the extension of the country’s state of calamity will allow the national government and local government units to continue utilizing appropriate funds — including the Quick Response Funds — in their disaster preparedness and response efforts in order to curb the spread of coronavirus disease and to continue to provide basic services to the affected population in the country.
The extension would also allow the government to control and monitor prices of prime commodities and basic necessities.
READ ALSO: State of Calamity Declared by President Duterte Over Coronavirus
Aside from this, President Duterte signed last week the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act – also known as Bayanihan 2 – which provide a COVID-19 relief package worth PHP 165.5 billion.
Meanwhile, President Duterte previously said that he preferred to have a COVID-19 vaccine from China and Russia as some pharmaceutical companies were asking the Philippines to have an advance payment for COVID-19 vaccines that were still under development.
As of this writing, the Department of Health recorded a total of 279,526 coronavirus cases in the country.
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