DOWNGRADE. Mayor Benjamin Magalong says in a media interview on Thursday (Feb. 10, 2022) Baguio City is ready for a lower community quarantine classification and has asked the national Inter-Agency Task Force to place the city under Alert Level 2. He said they continue to prepare the city and the residents for a lower classification by issuing orders such as those on curfew and liquor ban. (PNA file photo) BAGUIO CITY - Mayor Benjamin Magalong has requested the national Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) to downgrade the city from Alert Level 3 community quarantine status to Alert Level 2. "Nagrequest na ako, nag-usap na kami ni (Department of the Interior and Local Government) Usec. [Epimaco] Densing, tinatapos na lang namin yung ating (I have already requested. I have talked to Usec. Densing and we are just finishing our) position paper although I already sent a word to the IATF thru Usec Densing that we will already request for Alert Level 2," Magalong said in a media interview on Thursday. He said the city's alert status may now be lowered, considering the continuous drop in coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) cases. As of the latest Covid-19 bulletin released by the Department of Health-Cordillera on Wednesday evening, Baguio has 823 remaining active cases. Magalong said the city government is continuously issuing orders to prepare the residents for a lower alert level classification. "If you notice naglalabas na rin kami ng (we have been issuing) executive orders on curfew, liquor ban and we continue to accept tourists in Baguio," he said. He added that he has sent a word to the Panagbenga Foundation to pursue the 2022 staging of the annual Flower Festival but to make sure the activities will not generate huge crowds. Magalong said the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) alumni homecoming will likewise be held with limited participants. "I am also allowing already the hotels to come up with their programs to bring in tourists and allow the economy to roll," he said. (PNA) }