By Joseph B.A. Marzan
The Iloilo City government said on Friday that it was actively preparing for the resumption of the repatriations of its Locally-Stranded Individuals (LSI) today, August 22, 2020, after they were previously halted on August 8 due to the growing number of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases attributed to repatriates.
In an interview with Bombo Radyo Iloilo, the city’s COVID-19 Task Force spokesperson Jeck Conlu said they are still preparing new quarantine facilities in anticipation of LSI arrivals.
Around 500 quarantine beds are being prepared, with Jaro National High School as the first available facility.
The Office of Civil Defense-Region 6 (OCD-6) reported that 141 LSIs will arrive today via sweeper flight from Manila.
“On Monday, and since last week, [Iloilo City] Mayor Jerry Treñas ordered our COVID team to prepare for the resumption of arrivals of LSIs and our reception. There are some concerns which were addressed and right now we’re working on them, and they’re almost done. Right now, we are preparing to accommodate around 500 beds in our quarantine facilities in different schools for our LSIs. But as much as possible, if one school alone can carry them, it would be better. Right now, Jaro National High School, which has a wide area with many spacious classrooms, is being prepared,” Conlu said.
Conlu added that LSIs can also choose to stay in allowed accommodation facilities in the city, but at their own expense.
“Our LSIs also have other options. They can choose to stay in available hotels which we have allowed. But this will be on their own expense. Our quarantine facilities are free, with free food and water, and we also give them hygiene kits. That was the order of the mayor,” he said.
He added that the city government “wasn’t much worried” about Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) and other Returning Overseas Filipinos (ROF) being repatriated, as they will be facilitated by the Overseas Workers’ Welfare Administration (OWWA).
“With regard to our OFWs, OWWA will resume their reception and will also accommodate them in our hotels in the city. We are not that worried as to our OFWs or ROFs because OWWA is attending to them in their quarantine facilities,” he said.
Conlu said that LSIs were the city’s focus because they were able to observe patterns prior to the moratorium, such as those bringing bigger bags, essential home items, and pets, and even their families.
“What we are preparing for is our LSIs, because it seemed like we can’t really call them LSIs anymore. Before we asked for a moratorium, we saw that some were returning [after a long time]. These are what we call ‘Balik-Probinsya’, who would be returning for good to their old residence, which we were able to identify through the things that they bring. When we first fetched LSIs, we saw only bags and small trolleys, but before the moratorium, we saw those who were bringing big plastic containers, bigger bags, pets such as dogs and live chickens. We saw that they brought many things and that they came back with their families already. That would mean that would now settle down here in the city, and that the situation in Manila was getting worse,” he said.
LSI repatriations to Iloilo City were suspended by the National Task Force on COVID-19 on August 7, along with Bacolod City and Negros Occidental province, following requests coursed through the Regional Inter-Agency Task Force on COVID-19 and the Western Visayas Regional Task Force on COVID-19.
