MANILA -- President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Wednesday said he is considering extending until the end of the year the state of public health emergency which was first declared in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Yes, we were just discussing it with Usec. [Maria Rosario] Vergeire because maraming mga binibigay sa international medical community kapag state of emergency. WHO is one of them. At kung itigil natin ‘yung state of emergency, matitigil ‘yun,” the President said during a media interview at the PinasLakas vaccination campaign launch in Manila.

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte signed Proclamation No. 922 in March 2020, declaring a state of public health emergency throughout the Philippines in light of confirmed local transmission cases of COVID-19.

The state of public health emergency calls for the public to adhere to the response mechanisms of the government, particularly the utilization of resources to contain the spread of the virus. 

“But if we can change — we are looking at amending the law in terms of procurement and all of that in the middle of an emergency. But that will take time. So malamang we will extend it until the end of the year.”

The Department of Health on Tuesday logged 2,633 new COVID-19 cases, increasing the Philippines’ total caseload to 3,838,062. 

So far, the country has 36,190 active COVID-19 infections. (PND)