WHEREAS, there has been a noticeable increase in COVID-19 cases and an alarming increase in the daily number of COVID-19 B.1.617 (Delta) variant cases in the country for the past few days;

WHEREAS, as of 01 August 2021, there are a total of Sixty-Three Thousand Six Hundred Forty Six (63, 646) active COVID-19 cases in the Philippines;

WHEREAS, as of 28 July 2021, the Philippines has detected a total of 216 Delta variant cases in the country, forty seven (47) of which are from the National Capital Region (NCR);

WHEREAS, in order to address the current upward trend in COVID-19 cases, the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, with the approval of the President, placed NCR under Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) from 06 to 20 August 2021;

WHEREAS, the Omnibus Guidelines on the Implementation of Community Quarantine in the Philippines, as amended (Omnibus Guidelines), provides for the on-site capacities of establishments, industries, and sectors, including government agencies and instrumentalities in areas under the different quarantine classifications;

WHEREAS, the Omnibus Guidelines provides that instrumentalities and agencies of the government shall be fully operational under ECQ, with only a skeleton workforce permitted to report on-site and the remainder under alternative work arrangements, unless a higher on-site capacity is required in agencies providing health and emergency frontline services, laboratory and testing services, border control, or other critical services;

WHEREAS, there is a need to ensure the continuous delivery of public services during the ECQ period in NCR;

NOW, THEREFORE, the following are hereby ordered:

Section 1. Government remains in full operation. During the period of 06 to 20 August 2021, government agencies and instrumentalities in the NCR shall remain fully operational even as the region is placed under ECQ, subject to the on-site capacity and work-from-home arrangements authorized herein.

Section 2. On-site capacity in NCR during ECQ. Beginning 06 August 2021 until 20 August 2021, all government agencies and instrumentalities of the executive branch in the NCR, including government -owned or -controlled corporations (GOCCs), shall only have a skeleton workforce on-site, the size of which shall be determined by the head of agency, taking into consideration the services that must be continuously provided by the agency even during the ECQ.

To ensure continuity of government service, the skeleton workforce shall not be less than 20% on-site capacity at any given time, with the remainder being under work- from-home arrangements. Nonetheless, agencies providing health and emergency frontline services, laboratory and testing services, border control, and other critical services shall be allowed up to full on-site capacity.

On-site capacity, as used herein, refers to the number of employees or workers who should be physically present at their designated workplaces outside of their residences, expressed as a percentage of an agency's total workforce. Skeleton workforce refers to the on-site capacity which utilizes the smallest number of people needed for a business or organization to maintain its basic functions.

Section 3. Duty of head of agency to the Department Secretary. Before 06 August 2021, the head of each agency in NCR shall submit to the head of the department exercising control or supervision over it, or to which it is attached, the specific percentage of the agency's skeleton workforce, together with the arrangements to ensure continuing operation of the agency. The skeleton workforce as determined by the agency shall be immediately implemented upon the onset of ECQ, provided that the department head may, at any time, direct the modification of the submitted on-site capacity or related arrangements, as health considerations and the exigencies of the service may require.

Section 4. Application to other agencies in NCR. The offices of the legislative and judicial branches of government, independent constitutional commissions and bodies, and local government units in the NCR 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-one.