President Rodrigo Duterte is set to convene a full Cabinet meeting next week to discuss the option to further open the economy and find ways to increase the public transportation capacity, Malacanang said on Tuesday.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said the meeting to be held on October 12 will be called following the presentation on Monday night by National Economic and Development Authority Acting Director General Karl Kendrick Chua showing the effect of the coronavirus pandemic on the people.

Based on the presentation, he said Chua showed that hunger and malnourishment, especially among the youth, increased.

"This is his (Chua) reason why he is encouraging the entire government to further open the economy and it's important to address the lack of transportation and this is the reason why the President is calling for a full Cabinet meeting next Monday, 4 o'clock in the afternoon to discuss the options to further open the economy and to address the lack of transportation," Roque said in a televised press briefing.

In the televised Laging Handa press briefing on Tuesday, National Task Force Against COVID-19 Carlito Galvez Jr. added that during the Cabinet meeting next week, they will determine the possible strategy of the Department of Transportation on how to increase the public transportation capacity, especially in Metro Manila, which "needs transport services for the 1.7 (million) workers."

He said they will also talk about the third phase of the National Action Plan, which is further opening the economy while strengthening the health response against COVID-19.

Asked if it would be possible for Metro Manila to shift to modified general community quarantine after October, Galvez said, "It's very possible."

He cited the case of Cebu City, which was also placed under a lockdown but is now under MGCQ after the local government with the help of the national government was able to reduce the coronavirus cases.

"And from what we are seeing, we are so happy to report that the mayors continue to strengthen their response here in NCR. We have seen that (the number of COVID-19) cases has declined," he said.

He cited from as high as about 50 percent of active COVID-19 cases, the number fell to five percent.

Metro Manila, which is the largest contributor to the economy, is currently under general community quarantine wherein some of the businesses have remained closed or operating in a limited capacity. Celerina Monte/DMS