MANILA (UPDATE) The Department of the Interior and Local Government on Saturday expressed support for placing all of the country under the modified general community quarantine -- the lowest restriction level -- in a bid to address "fragmented" travel regulations across localities.

In a statement, the DILG pointed out the “urgent need” to streamline various travel measures enforced by local government units to stem the spread of COVID-19, describing some as “redundant.”

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“[The agency sees] the urgent need to remove redundancy in domestic tourist travel requirements and impose less stringent requirements by managing the health risks through other means,” the statement read.

• READ: Speaker Velasco backs placing entire country under MGCQ next month
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Interior Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya said Filipinos had been “confused” about travel regulations because they vary by province, noting that some provinces or LGUs require RT-PCR testing, while some use antigen tests.

“Some even require [a] 14-day quarantine regardless of PCR result. We need the regulations to be streamlined and placing the country under one classification would help in the on-going harmonization,” explained Malaya.

“Placing the entire country under one quarantine classification would allow the DILG to harmonize the fragmented travel regulations across the country,” the official added.

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The inter-agency task force leading the country’s pandemic response earlier this week urged President Rodrigo Duterte to place the entire country under the loosest lockdown classification to boost the economy.

• READ: Metro Manila mayors, IATF agree to ease quarantine, Palace says

Nine of the 17 mayors in the capital region were in favor of MGCQ in March, the Metro Manila Council said Thursday.

Experts have expressed concern, however, warning of a possible surge in case of a hurried quarantine shift.

In an interview with ANC Monday, Malaya said it is now the right time to streamline different travel restrictions across the country.

"We saw it fit that now is the right time, given that the vaccination rollout is going to happen very soon. Now is the right time to harmonize all of the fragmented, different restrictions coming local government units," he said.

Asked what took them so long, Malaya said they couldn't act on it decisively due to fear of second surge during the holiday season.

He noted that the country's economy had been "significantly being impacted by the pandemic."

Reports from NEDA show that the National Capital Region (NCR) had a hunger incidence rate of 23.3 percent, which means 1 in 4 people experienced involuntary hunger.

"We agree [on shifting to MGCQ across the country]. We know how hard this pandemic to our people. At the end of the day, it's all about the people. If people are losing their jobs, there's hunger, there's joblessness then we have to mitigate the risks through other means," Malaya said.

• OCTA Group recommends gradual easing of NCR quarantine, warns of surge under MGCQ

NOT ABANDONING HEALTH PROTOCOLS

Malaya clarified that harmonizing travel regulations would not mean abandoning health protocols or disregarding the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We’re not saying that we will remove all travel restrictions and go back to where we came from. That’s impossible because COVID-19 is still here. We just need to streamline because we need [to revive our] economy and address the hunger, loss of jobs and economic opportunities that came as a result of the travel restrictions,” he said.

The DILG has already organized a technical working group with LGUs regarding the harmonization of “local regulations for domestic travel as well as recommend best options to encourage domestic travel for leisure.”

Duterte is expected to announce the new lockdown classifications for the month of March on Feb. 22.

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