President Rodrigo Duterte has extended the country’s state of calamity status until September 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic which the Philippines continues to grapple with.
Proclamation No. 1021, signed by Duterte last Sept. 16, states that the national state of calamity is effective Sept. 13 this year until Sept. 12, 2021, “unless earlier lifted or extended as circumstances may warrant.”
The proclamation cited the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council’s recommendation to extend the declared state of calamity throughout the country.
Under the national state of calamity status, the government would have more freedom in moving around funds to respond to the crisis.
“The extension will, among others, effectively afford the National Government, as well as local government units, ample latitude to continue utilizing appropriate funds, including the Quick Response Fund, in their disaster preparedness and response efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19, monitor and control prices of basic necessities and prime commodities, and provide basic services to the affected populations,” read the proclamation.
Duterte first declared a national state of calamity last March 17, just two days after he placed the entire Metro Manila under a lockdown.
