President Rodrigo Duterte placed Mega Manila back to GCQ from tomorrow (August 19) till August 31

National Capital Region (NCR) will revert back to its General Community Quarantine (GCQ) status from 19-31 August, ending the two weeks of stricter quarantine status imposed in 04 August. 

President Rodrigo Duterte in an announcement on Monday night, said that NCR as well as the Greater Manila Area provinces Cavite, Laguna, Rizal and Bulacan will be placed under GCQ until the end of the month.  

While the rest of the country stays at the more relaxed Modified General Community Quarantine (MGCQ), several other areas outside of NCR are placed under GCQ such as Nueva Ecija, Batangas, Quezon, Iloilo City and several cities and provinces in the tourist island Cebu.  
 
NCR has been in GCQ since 01 June, allowing select businesses to resume operations. However, authorities reimposed the second phase of the quarantine status for NCR after the community of medical professionals requested a time-out, to allow them to recuperate and re-calibrate strategies for the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.  

The Integrated Resorts in the country’s Entertainment City as well as other casino operators in NCR are still in suspended operations following the orders from regulator Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR). However, it was reported that some IRs and other betting venues were allowed to conduct a test-run for its casino operations while in GCQ, catering to only select and in-house guests, to ensure a seamless reopening upon order from the government. 

Meanwhile, online casino operations called POGOs, were given a green light to resume operations in May, following a strict set of guidelines prior to reopening, which includes updates of dues and taxes to the regulator and the country’s Bureau of Internal Revenue. 

About Affiliate Grand Slam:

Affiliates are gold in the iGaming industry and the SiGMA Affiliate Grand Slam is our own bespoke Affiliate Club that gathers all major, upcoming and affiliate startups within the industry. It’s free to join the SiGMA Affiliate GrandSlam. Affiliates requesting to join will be vetted through a membership application process upon submitting a request to JOIN.