'Fake, false, untrue': Nograles denies he said ECQ to be extended until mid-May

MANILA, Philippines — Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles denied reports that he told businessmen that the enhanced community quarantine enforced in Luzon and parts of the Visayas and Mindanao would be extended until next month.

“Nako (Goodness). Napakalayo sa katotohanan (This couldn’t have been farther from the truth). This is totally false. Totally untrue. Totally fake,” the spokesman of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases said during their Saturday morning virtual briefing.

This was in response to a reporter's question if he had indeed "told businessmen in a briefing that President Duterte was willing to extend the ECQ until mid-May."

“So 'wag na po nating patulan 'yan (So let’s not entertain that anymore). So fake, false, untrue. Totally. Totally,” Nograles said.

The IATF is set to meet on Monday to extensively discuss post-April 30 scenarios.

“Siyempre lahat ng mga miyembro ng IATF ay may kanya-kanyang rekomendasyon, may kanya-kanyang suhestiyon. At kung maiintindihan po natin, siyempre ang lahat ng miyembro ng IATF, may sari-sariling mandato at jurisdiction. At may sariling set of stakeholders po lahat ng iyan. So ibabalanse po namin ang lahat,” Nograles said.

(Of course, all members of the IATF have their own respective recommendations and suggestions. And for our consideration, all IATF members have different mandates and jurisdictions. Not mention their own set of stakeholders. So we will balance all of these.)

The Cabinet secretary reiterated that whatever decision the IATF arrives upon in consensus, it is still President Rodrigo Duterte who will have the final call on quarantine extension and other post-April 30 decisions.

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