Gov’t to approach COVID-19 as calamity: DILG

March 25, 2020

Interior and Local Government Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya said the government will approach the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic as calamity.

This was mentioned by Malaya in a briefing Thursday after President Rodrigo Duterte announced a National Action Plan to combat the Covid-19 in a taped televised message on Tuesday night.

"The Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) is the policy-making body of the National Action Plan (NAP). And now all the regulation that would come from IATF will be implemented by National Task Force," Malaya said.

"This team utilizes the NDRRMC structure. The clusters of NDRRMC will be utilized here so calamity will be the approach of our government. We are under a state of public health emergency. The president has already declared a state of calamity over the whole country," he added.

According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), their task under the NAP is still being discussed as of Wednesday afternoon.

Malaya said the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) is  waiting for the guidelines on its implementation.

"We in DILG are also waiting the guidelines to be issued and the executive order or memorandum issuance from Malacanang," he said.

In his taped message, President Rodrigo Duterte said the NAP will be chaired by Department of National Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and DILG Secretary Eduardo Año as the vice chairman. Robina Asido/DMS