FINANCE Secretary Carlos Dominguez 3rd pushed for a shift of Metro Manila and Calabarzon to a modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) “as quickly as possible” to open the country’s economy amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.

In a televised briefing with President Rodrigo Duterte, Dominguez said that about 60 percent of the country’s economy was based in Metro Manila or the National Capital Region (NCR) and Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon).

“So we have to face the new reality. The reality today is that the virus is not going to go away. And we will have to live with it for a long period of time. So so far, that’s the story, Mr. President. And I really believe, we really should begin opening,” Dominguez said.

“You know, you put NCR, Calabarzon, that is where the economy is based. About 60 percent or 67 percent of our economy is based on that area. That should move more to the MGCQ as quickly as possible because people have to start working,” he added.

Under MGCQ, more establishments in a specified region or area will be allowed to continue their operations, but are still under Covid-19 policies.

Both Metro Manila and Calabarzon were placed under strict quarantine after cases of Covid-19 rapidly rose in both regions in early March.

In the same meeting, Duterte announced that Metro Manila would remain under general community quarantine (GCQ) until July 15.

Cavite and Rizal are also under GCQ while Batangas, Laguna, and Quezon are under MGCQ.

To prevent further Covid-19 infections in a city or region, Dominguez suggested placing villages (barangay) under lockdown based on their number of coronavirus cases, so other areas or villages would not be affected economically.

He also said lockdowns could also be placed on “company-to-company” basis.

“We should monitor it on a — maybe on a barangay level and if you know, the cases go up, just close it down. But do it on a place to place. And do it also on a company-to-company basis. So if the company has big spike [of coronavirus infections], close it down also,” Dominguez said.

Meanwhile, Duterte said the pandemic has “eaten up a lot of” the country’s treasury, calling on Filipinos again to stay at home to avoid being infected by the pathogen.

“So mga kababayan ko, we made this program for you on a regular basis explaining to you the wherewithal and all of how government is responding to the crisis and how it has also eaten up a lot of our money in the economy. So alam ninyo dodoblado ito,” Duterte said.

“Now, the only thing that can really prevent it is to stop Covid or minimize Covid. Huwag na lang sana na madagdagan and the answer is really up to you. Kung gusto mong magkasakit, lumabas ka,” he added.

On Tuesday, Palace spokesman Harry Roque Jr. said the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) approved the proposal to revisit strategies in combating the pandemic in a bid to further reopen the economy.

Roque said reviewing the strategies would help ensure that there was a balance between health and economy.

“Palalakasin po natin ang kumpiyansa ng mga mamamayan na magbalik trabaho at palakasin ang consumer demand. Paano po ito? Sa pamamagitan po ng testing, malawakang targeted testing (We will boost people’s confidence to go back to work. We will also boost consumer demand. How? Through expanded targeted testing),” he said.

To date, the Philippines has recorded 37,514 Covid-19 cases with 1,266 fatalities and 10,233 recoveries.