President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. said he is no longer keen on extending the country’s state of calamity (SOC) due to the novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19).
Marcos made the statement after the Department of Health (DOH) announced last Tuesday it will submit a memo to Malacañang requesting for a longer SOC.
“I’m still very, very hesitant to continue the state of calamity, to extend it because again we are not in a state of calamity anymore, technically speaking,” Marcos said in an interview last Thursday.
He noted it may give the “wrong mindset” next year that the country is still struggling to cope with the pandemic.
Last Sept., Marcos issued Proclamation No. 57, which extended the SOC until Dec. 31, 2022.
It was supposed to last only until Sept. 12, 2022 under Proclamation 1218 of President Rodrigo R. Duterte.
DOH is pushing for another round of extension for the SOC since the country’s Covid-19 vaccination program, emergency use authorization for Covid-19 jabs, and emergency allowance for health care workers will be phased out without it.
Marcos said they are currently “trying to find ways to continue to provide the benefits to our medical health workers” even without the SOC.
In another development, the President said he is considering visiting the areas, which were affected by the heavy rains and flooding of the shear line and Northeast Monsoon after his State Visit in China on Jan. 3 to 5.
“It always helps to go and see for yourself. So I’ll try to make the time to go,” Marcos said.
As of last Wednesday, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) reported the shear line resulted in the death of 29 people and affected over 400,000 people in Visayas and Mindanao.
Marcos said he is pleased with the response of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in assisting the people in the affected areas.