The Palace is pleased with the Social Weather Stations (SWS) 2020 COVID-19 Mobile Phone Survey conducted May 4-10, 2020, showing 84% of Filipinos believe that strict stay-at-home measures due to COVID-19 “are worth it to protect people and limit the spread of the virus.”

There is no truth to the accusation of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights that the Philippines is using the COVID-19 crisis as an excuse to clamp down on freedom of expression and to tighten censorship.

Regarding the issue on tricycles/those similarly situated, Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Ano clarifies that although apprehension from the Highway Patrol Group (HPG) is temporarily suspended, such are still prohibited from traversing the national highways.

The Palace confirms that President Rodrigo Roa Duterte signed today, June 1, 2020, the appointment of Mr. George Villareal Ursabia, Jr. as Commandant of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG).

Tomorrow, June 1, the country will shift to General Community Quarantine / Modified General Community Quarantine, as the case maybe.

The Palace confirms that Mr. Wilkins M. Villanueva has been appointed Director General of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) on 22 May 2020, vice Aaron N. Aquino.

The Palace confirms that Mr. Ramon P. Jacinto has been appointed Undersecretary of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), co-terminus with the appointing authority on 22 May 2022.

This is to clarify that I was referring to our national testing capacity, which is now at 32,000/day, when I earlier mentioned that we have already conducted and surpassed the 30,000 target last May 20. This is very clear though in the corresponding infographics on the national testing capacity, which was flashed on the screen during the briefing.

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte has expressed optimism over news that clinical trials for the development of COVID-19 vaccines.

The President will review the recommendations of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) to establish the Pharmaceutical Development Center and the Virology Science and Technology Institute of the Philippines, which have already been approved by the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) last Friday, May 22.