Malacanang approved the Philippine Sports Commission’s request for a 10-workday lockdown starting April 13, Tuesday, after 63 persons tested positive in its latest round of testing.

Both the administrative offices at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex in Manila and the Philsports Complex in Pasig City will be under confinement as it gets thorough disinfection and cleansing.

PSC Executive Director Atty. Guillermo Iroy, Jr. has been meeting the management committee of the PSC through the holiday and weekends to ensure that the agency’s health safety protocols are revisited and fortified. Iroy said that they have reiterated the observance of all safety protocols in place and shall have more stringent measures and sanctions for those discovered not following these rules, “It is for their and everyone’s safety. We all have a family to protect.”

The PSC’s office operations shall shift to work-from-home arrangements on those lockdown dates to ensure that delivery of service remains unhampered.

“We hope to break the transmission during those days, to arrest the spread of COVID-19 among our employees,” explained Chief of Staff Marc Velasco stressing that heads of offices have already been given instructions on the work-from-home set-up and expectations.

“We are still waiting for some test results and we are hoping that we do not add any more positives, “ said Velasco adding that they were still at 41 when the request was submitted to the Office of the President last Friday.

Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea approved the request pursuant to Memorandum Circular 85 issued March 19, requiring government agencies to seek approval from the Office of the President before any lockdown is effected.