President Duterte again put Metro Manila surrounding areas under modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ). Here are the stories making the headlines on ANC today:

No to "militaristic" lockdown
The president's announcement came as COVID-19 cases surged and after around 60 medical societies aired an appeal to the president. They said we need to return to ECQ to give medical workers relief and rest. Another group of doctors calling themselves Second Opinion PH called for a real medical quarantine rather than the militaristic lockdown being imposed by the government.

Collapse
Confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country passed the 100,000 mark. The medical societies said the country is waging a losing battle against COVID-19 and that ignoring their call would risk a collapse of the health system. Second Opinion PH is calling for the removal of Health Sec. Francisco Duque and former military men manning the Inter Agency Task Force (IATF). Duterte however again defended Duque on Sunday.

Blended learning
The start of the school year is just around the corner with new modes of learning to be implemented due to the pandemic. For sure, there will be bumps along this road due to the new systems. Vice President Leni Robredo said she is attending a dry run of the Department of Education's "blended learning" system, basically a mix of face-to-face and online classes, on Aug. 10. Meanwhile, a group of teachers want to include COVID-19 in the curriculum.

Battle against barriers
The debate is still raging on the use of barriers by motorcycle riders and their backriders. The riders said the barriers are not aerodynamic and could cause accidents. Authorities said the accidents being reported due to the barriers are actually caused by "faulty riding."

Saving a life
Nadia Montenegro spoke to ANCX to explain what her friend John Regala is going through and the treatments being undertaken for the actor's health condition. Now if only they could reconnect him to family.