The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) on Saturday said the Metro Manila Council (MMC) will recommend to the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID) three options after the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) ends on May 15 to prevent further transmission of coronvirus disease.

In a virtual presser, MMDA General Manager Jojo Garcia said the first recommendation is extending the ECQ for two more weeks, or until the end of the month.

Second is for the government to move Metro Manila from ECQ to general community quarantine (GCQ) and third is a modified combination of an ECQ and a GCQ.

“The recommendations and scenarios will be presented to the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases. We will let the national government decide what is the appropriate option for Metro Manila,” Garcia said.

For the third option, he said it will depend on the number of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases. Areas that will still have high number of COVID-19 cases will remain under ECQ while those with low cases will be downgraded to GCQ.

“There is no perfect solution. We have to balance economic and health issues,” he said.

“Ours is only recommendatory. What is good is those who are on the ground will be heard because the mayors, they are the ones who are familiar on what is happening on the ground,” he added.

Garcia said the National Capital Region (NCR) mayors are ready to comply with the decision of the IATF.

“We will respect the wisdom of the IATF to decide. We and the Metro Manila mayors shall follow and be ready,” he said.

The MMC, composed of the 17 Metro Manila mayors and different agencies, is the governing and policy-making body of the MMDA.

In a radio interview, Interior Undersecretary and spokesperson Jonathan Malaya reiterated that there is a possibility that some areas in the NCR will be downgraded to GCQ depending on the data before May 15.

Malaya said the IATF-MEID might come up with a decision by May 13 or 14.

“We will respect the recommendations of the Metro Manila mayors because they are our partners in implementing the ECQ,” Malaya said.

“However, their proposal is simply recommendatory to IATF,” he added.

As of May 9, the Department of Health (DOH) reported that NCR had a total of 6,916 COVID-19 cases out of the 10,610 cases nationwide. Ella Dionisio/DMS