By Emme Rose Santiagudo
Local chief executives in Western Visayas agreed to lift more border restrictions once the region slides down to Modified General Community Quarantine (MGCQ) by June 1, 2020.
According to City Mayor Jerry Treñas, leaders in the region agreed to allow free travel without quarantine passes under the MGCQ except for sea travels from Bacolod to Iloilo City and vice versa.
“We have agreed that there will be no more border restrictions particularly within the island of Panay. Naistoryahan namon nga waay na sang quarantine passes, free na ang pagtravel sa kada isa nga probinsya pakadto sa iban,” he said in a press conference on Friday.
The mayor said they are still waiting for the final call of local authorities in Bacolod and Negros Occidental on permitting interisland travel.
But he said that Iloilo City is ready to receive passengers from Bacolod and Negros Occidental.
“In so far as the fast craft and ferries going to Bacolod, I think mahulat kita kay ga-alang alang man to sila sa pihak. Kita ya, willing kita magbaton sa ila. Sila lang and indi pa willing, gahulat lang kita kon san-o pa sila ready,” he said.
Meanwhile, Treñas said all local chief executives in the region agreed that airports and seaports in the region will only be limited to returning Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs), locally stranded individuals, and cargos.
The mayor said they will request the national government to continue suspending commercial flights and regular boat trips under the MGCQ.
“LCEs have agreed that the airports and seaports in Region 6 will only be open to OFWs and LSIs and cargos. We are requesting the national government not to allow commercial travel in the meantime,” he said.
Treñas said all local chief executives in the region agreed on the travel policies and guidelines provided that all local government units (LGUs) in Western Visayas will be in the same quarantine classification.
On Friday, Treñas along with Governors Arthur Defensor Jr. of Iloilo, Rhodoro Cadiao of Antique, Samuel Gumarin of Guimaras, Esteban Evan Contreras of Capiz, Florencio Miraflores of Aklan, Eugenio Jose Lacson of Negros Occidental, and Bacolod City Mayor Bing Leonardia discussed policies and issues in the region concerning COVID-19.
They relayed their plans and concerns in an online meeting with Sec. Carlito Galvez, chief implementer of the National Action Plan against COVID-19, and Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Usec. Epimaco Densing III.
The mayor said they will wait for the final announcement from the national Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on the final quarantine status of Iloilo City following their appeal.
Based on Resolution No. 40 issued on Wednesday, the IATF classified all provinces and highly urbanized cities (HUCs) in Western Visayas, except for Iloilo City, as low-risk and will slide down to Modified General Community Quarantine (MGCQ) from June 1 to June 15, 2020.
Iloilo City, which has been classified as moderate-risk will remain under GCQ, according to the IATF resolution.
In his national address on Thursday, President Rodrigo Duterte announced that all areas in the country, except for National Capital Region (NCR), Region 2, Region 3, Region 4-A, Pangasinan, Albay, and Davao City, will shift to MGCQ.
Treñas said the IATF assured him that the appeal of Iloilo City to transition to MGCQ instead of GCQ will be tackled in the meeting of the national pandemic task force Friday.
