MANILA - Marikina Mayor Marcelino Teodoro on Friday said the capital region’s local chief executives were not consulted on the easing of quarantine restrictions in Metro Manila starting this weekend.

“Walang naging pag-uusap o pagpupulong na naganap sa pagitan ng Metro Manila Mayors at ng IATF (Inter-Agency Task Force) at natanggap na lamang namin itong bagong alert level kaya ang ibang mayor nagtatanong at pinag-aaralan mabuti kung paano natin safely maiimplement itong bagong alert level system,” Teodoro said.

(No talks or meeting between the Metro Manila mayors and the IATF happened and we just received this new alert level that’s why some mayors were asking and even studying how to safely implement this new alert level system.)

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Navotas Mayor Toby Tiangco said in an interview on Thursday that Metro Mayors did not recommend easing quarantine restrictions.

Government on Wednesday announced the Metro Manila’s 13 million people will shift to Alert Level 3 from October 16 to 31.

“Pabor ako para sa ekonomiya pero kailangan maging maingat sa mga minimum public health standard, na i-set nating mabuti ang mga guidelines. Ito yung kinakatakot ko na baka maulit yung mga nangyari ng mga nakaraang buwan na nagkaroon ng announcement pero binawi o kaya naman ay yung mababang kaso ng COVID natin sa Metro Manila ay muling tumaas,” Teodoro said.

(I am in favor of this for the economy, but we need to be careful with the minimum public health standards, we should set the guidelines properly. This is what I fear that what happened last month when an announcement was made only to be withdrawn or when our low COVID cases in Metro Manila sees another increase.)

• Metro Manila LGUs to enforce unified Alert Level 3 measures, mayor says

Under Alert Level 3, several establishments will be allowed to operate at up to 30 percent of indoor venue capacity for fully vaccinated individuals and up to 50 percent outdoor capacity.

Teodoro said they are now rushing preparations for the implementation of the new alert level system.

“Sana nabigyan kami ng tamang panahon at ang guidelines sana naibigay nang mas maaga para nakapaghanda,” he said.

(I hope we were given enough time and the guidelines provided to us much earlier so we could prepare.)

Teodoro said they have to prepare the mechanisms needed for the implementation of the new quarantine restrictions like the regulations, the enforcers, and even engineering and administrative control in the establishments that have to be inspected.

“Kaya kami, ngayong araw na ito lahat ng aming inspektor nag-iikot ngayon sa mga establishments para tingnan kung nakahanda yung mga establishments. Kung hindi nakahanda, hindi natin sila basta-basta payagang makapagbukas,” he said.

(Today, all our inspectors will go around establishments to check their readiness. If they are not ready, we will not allow them to just open.)