(FILE) Manila Mayor Isko Moreno supervises road clearing at Moriones, Tondo, Manila./Inquirer/Grig C. Montegrande
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) on Saturday said the deadline for road clearing operations was moved to Feb. 15 to allow local government units (LGUs) to prioritize plans for mass vaccination against Covid-19.
“The Department is fully cognizant of the urgency for LGUs to prepare their vaccination plans against COVID-19 that’s why the road clearing timeline is extended anew. This is, however, the last extension to be granted by the DILG,” Interior Department Undersecretary and Spokesperson Jonathan Malaya wrote in a statement.
“We need to give LGUs time to focus on their local vaccination plans so we are giving them more time to undertake their road-clearing operations,” he further said.
The original deadline for road clearing was set last Jan. 15, and was moved to Jan. 22.
It was President Rodrigo Duterte who requested that roads in the country be cleared to decongest traffic in Metro Manila.
Previously, the DILG required local governments to ready their local vaccination program to ensure a “smooth” mass inoculation for its constituents.
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As of Jan. 22, the Philippines documented a total of 509,887 cases of coronavirus disease with 467,720 recoveries and 10,136 deaths.