Operational Capacity to be Adopted by Government Agencies and Instrumentalities during a Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine

August 3, 2020

MEMORANDUM CIRCULAR NO. 79

OPERATIONAL CAPACITY TO BE ADOPTED BY GOVERNMENT AGENCIES AND INSTRUMENTALITIES DURING A MODIFIED ENHANCED COMMUNITY QUARANTINE

WHEREAS,on 02 August 2020, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte placed Metro Manila and the Provinces of Laguna, Cavite, Rizal, and Bulacan under a modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ),effective 04 August 2020;

WHEREAS, the Omnibus Guidelines on the Implementation of Community Quarantine in the Philippines issued by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF), provides for, among others, the operational capacity that may be adopted in agencies and instrumentalities of the government, including government-owned or -controlled corporations (GOCCs), as well as local government units (LGUs) under each community quarantine classification;

WHEREAS, the Civil Service Commission (CSC) issued Memorandum Circular No. 10 (s. 2020), providing for the Revised Interim Guidelines for Alternative Work Arrangements and Support Mechanisms for Workers in the Government during the Period of State of National Emergency Due to COVID-19 Pandemic; and

WHEREAS,to ensure the continuous delivery of services in government agencies and instrumentalities, while observing the guidelines on community quarantine, there is a need to lay down the work arrangements that should be observed by government offices under MECQ;

NOW, THEREFORE,the following are hereby ordered:

SECTION 1. Definition of Terms.— As used herein, the following terms shall be understood thus:

a) Operational capacity — the number of employees or workers who can be permitted or required to physically report to work on-site in a particular agency of the government, generally expressed as a percentage of the total workforce in such agency;

b) Skeleton workforce — the operational capacity which utilizes the smallest number of people needed for a government agency to perform its basic functions.

SECTION 2. Operational Capacity in MECQ.— All government agencies and instrumentalities of the executive branch, including GOCCs, located in all geographical areas placed under MECQ, shall adopt a skeleton workforce up to a maximum of 50% operational capacity at any given time, unless a higher operational capacity is required in agencies providing health and emergency frontline services, border control, and other critical services.

SECTION 3. Alternative Work Arrangements.— All agencies, including every office and unit therein, shall ensure that the delivery of their respective services are not hampered or impaired. Towards this end, all heads of agencies, while maintaining compliance with the operational capacity provided herein, shall adopt the most appropriate alternative work arrangements for their respective agencies, in accordance with the relevant rules and regulations of the CSC.

SECTION 4. Application to Other Agencies.— The offices of the legislative and judicial branches of government, independent constitutional commissions and bodies, and LGUs located in areas placed under MECQ, are strongly urged to adopt the provisions of this Circular.

SECTION 5. Effectivity.— This Memorandum Circular shall take effect immediately.

DONE in the City of Manila, this 3rd day of August, in the year of Our Lord, Two Thousand and Twenty.

 

Published in the Official Gazette, Vol. 116, No. 35, p. 5387 on August 31, 2020.