page_title: 2020 in the Philippines
section_title: March
hierarchical_section_title: 2020 in the Philippines / Events / March
caption_attribution_description: English: Camp Olivas, City of San Fernando, Pampanga- PLTGEN GUILLERMO ELEAZAR joined PRO3 Regional Director PBGEN RHODEL SERMONIA in the inspection of control points at the Meycauayan - Valenzuela boundary, Bocaue Toll Plaza and Fields Avenue in Angeles City, yesterday morning (March 19) to ensure that proper guidelines are constantly being observed by PNP personnel to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 in the country.
context_page_description: 2020 in the Philippines details events of note that have occurred, or are scheduled to take place, in the Philippines in 2020.
context_section_description: March 2 – The Bureau of Customs (BOC) confirms that suspected syndicates brought in an estimated $370 million into the Philippines in December 2019, with the help of Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Philippine National Police (PNP) and airport police escorts.
  March 3 – Ombudsman Samuel Martires has filed graft and indirect bribery charges against former Nayong Pilipino Foundation, Inc. (NPFI) chairman of the board Patricia Ocampo-Desiongco and five other ex-NPFI officials for accepting free transportation to and accommodation in Jeju Island, South Korea from a private firm during negotiations on a lease contract involving the same firm.
  March 9 – President Duterte signs Proclamation No. 922, that declaring a public health emergency over the increasing number of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases in the country.
  March 12 – Code Red Sublevel 2 was declared in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and issuing a partial lockdown on Metro Manila to prevent a nationwide spread of the said disease.
  March 16:
  The Department of Agriculture (DA) has confirmed reports that bird flu or the H5N6 avian flu has been detected in Jaen, Nueva Ecija.
  President Duterte signs Proclamation No. 929, placing the entire Philippines under a state of calamity amid the ongoing situation of COVID-19.
  The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) has issued Memorandum Order March 1, 2020, that all broadcast and communications companies would have the authority to stay on air with their permits automatically renewed while the entire Luzon is placed under enhanced community quarantine due to the coronavirus pandemic.
  March 17 – Luzon is under enhanced community quarantine due to coronavirus pandemic in the country as announced by the President in his evening address last March 16, 2020. This expanded the community quarantine imposed in Metro Manila on March 15.
  March 25 – President Rodrigo Duterte signs the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act of 2020 (Republic Act No. 11469), a measure that gives him additional powers to strengthen government's response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic after Congress urgently deliberated and passed the measure within a day. On July 1, the Supreme Court (SC) has dismissed the petition filed by Jaime Ibañez, that questioning the constitutionality of the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act.
  March 26 – Militant groups in the Philippines have agree to U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres's call for a ceasefire as security forces focus on battling the COVID-19 virus.
caption: Police checkpoint near the border of Valenzuela, Metro Manila with Meycauayan, Bulacan
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