Paranaque Mayor Edwin Olivarez on Monday said the Metro Manila Council (MMC) recommended to maintain the general community quarantine (GCQ) with heightened restrictions starting June 1.

He said curfew will remain from 10pm to 4am.

''Our consensus, our recommendation, is to retain the current classification,” Olivarez said in a radio interview.

“Our previous is ‘heightened’. This one, stricter also, but we will open other businesses,” he said.

The government is to announce later tonight whether to retain the current quarantine classification.

Olivarez said the utilization of the health care in the region and number of COVID-19 cases is slowly decreasing.

He said during their meeting with the Department of Trade and Industry, additional business activities will be open starting June 1 to help the economy recover.

“These are meetings, incentives, conventions and so that we can generate (jobs) and workers can return to their job without sacrificing our protocol,” Olivarez said.

“(These will) not (be) in full capacity, only limited capacity. What we discussed is 50 percent,” he added.

As for restaurants, the MMC recommended seating capacity to be increased from 20 percent to 30 percent for indoor dining while 50 percent will remain on al fresco or outdoor dining.

Olivarez said the IATF has yet to finalize the MMC's recommendation. Ella Dionisio/DMS