Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III on Wednesday expressed his support to the recommendation of Metro Manila mayors to place the National Capital Region (NCR) under Alert Level 1 starting this March.
Bello said that other economic advisers also support the move, including the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) director-general Karl Chua.
"Ako suportado ko yung posisyon ng mga Metro Manila mayors. Kasama ko diyan 'yung mga economic advisers ng DTI, si Secretary Karl Chua ng NEDA," he told DZRH.
(I support the position of Metro Manila mayors. I am with the economic advisers of DTI and Secretary Karl Chua of NEDA.)
The labor secretary stressed the need to move to lower COVID-19 restrictions in order to generate more jobs for Filipinos.
"Kailangan natin talaga na bumalik na sa normal ang ating mga level para sa ganun bumalik sa normal ang negosyo. Kapag bumalik ang negosyo sa normal, babalik na rin ang trabaho," he said.
(We really need to bring back the level to normal so businesses can also go back to normal. Once business returns to normal, so will jobs.)
Bello, who is also a part of the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF), clarified however that it is not just up to him to downgrade restrictions.
"'Yan ay collective body, so consensus yan ang mangyayari," he said on the IATF, which also has members from the health sector.
(That is a collective body, so a consensus will happen.)
The secretary's remarks came after Metro Manila mayors recommended to the IATF the downgrading of restrictions in the National Capital Region to Alert Level 1.
The mayors jointly said in a signed resolution that they are "ready and fully capable of implementing the IATF-prescribed health and safety protocols under COVID-19 Alert Level 1."
They cited in their recommendation the risk classification in Metro Manila, the downward trend of health care utilization rate, and the below-five-percent positivity rate in the region.
