Duterte back in Davao for work, family time —Palace

President Rodrigo Duterte returned to his hometown Davao City on Saturday to monitor the coronavirus situation in Mindanao and spend time with his family after being away for months, Malacañang said Sunday.

“[Duterte] is a hands-on working chief executive who spent his weekend to check how this global health scare impacted the lives of people on the ground, especially those living outside Metro Manila and Luzon,” presidential spokesman Harry Roque said.

He added that Duterte will be back in Manila in time for the next meeting of the Inter-Agency Task Force for Emerging Infectious Diseases.

Restrictions in Metro Manila and several other provinces  have been relaxed to a modified enhanced community quarantine since Saturday. 

Davao City, meanwhile, is under a more relaxed general community quarantine.

However, the Palace earlier explained that despite the easing of restrictions, non-essential travel within and across areas under any form of quarantine is still prohibited. 

"'Yung mga tipong bibisita sa ating mga kamag-anak, pu-puwede po, maiwasan muna po 'yan kasi talagang wala pa pong ganyang pahintulot," Roque said in a radio interview on Saturday. 

Still, the presidential spokesman stressed that Duterte did not only return home to be with his family but to monitor Mindanao amid the pandemic as well. —Julia Mari Ornedo