The Department of Health (DOH) has asked the Office of the President (OP) to extend the declaration of the state of calamity in the country due to COVID-19.

“We already submitted our memo for the President, requesting the extension of the state of calamity in consideration of the fact that the CDC bill was not enacted on time,” DOH officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a press conference last Tuesday, Dec. 27.

The said bill seeks to create the country's own Center for Disease Prevention and Control for controlling the introduction and spread of infectious diseases, and provides consultation and assistance.

The extension was suggested to continuously implement measures to combat the pandemic.

Vergeire said that they are waiting for OP’s response after their meeting together with the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) last December 23.

“We are just waiting for the official response of the Office of the President in terms of this memo that we have submitted to them, but we are all aware of the timeline on the 31st,” she said.

The declaration of the state of calamity will end on December 31, 2022 — extended by President Marcos as it was ordered only until September 12 this year.