By Emme Rose Santiagudo
Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas is confident that Iloilo City will be among the first cities to recover from the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
After three months of restrictions at the Iloilo City Hall, Treñas led the first “new normal” flag ceremony of the Iloilo City government on Monday, a move that aims to portray that the city is gradually adjusting to normalcy amid the health crisis.
“Ginhiwat naton ang aton pinakauna nga flag ceremony sa sini nga new normal. Gintigayon gid naton nga makahiwat sang flag ceremony subong bangud luyag naton nga tudluan ang tanan sa pag-adjust sa bag-o naton nga sitwasyon kag magpadayon sa kun ano ang aton mga hilikuton,” he said.
As the city gears towards economic recovery, Treñas underscored the need to boost the city’s testing capacity.
“We try to make sure first nga may ara kita testing capacity amo nga nag-embark gid kita nga mapatindog sang laboratory naton,” he said.
Iloilo City government has invested in a testing laboratory in Molo district, including a 1,000-bed evacuation center.
“Aside sa laboratory, mapatindog kita sang isa ka evacuation center good for 1,000 bed capacity with a warehouse. We want nga ang aton laboratory will be among the best,” Treñas said.
He noted that two more government hospitals – West Visayas State University Medical Center (WVSUMC) and Iloilo provincial government – will also establish their respective testing laboratories.
Three private hospitals in Iloilo City – Metro Iloilo Hospital, Qualimed, and the Medical City Iloilo – are also interested in seeking accreditation for their respective laboratories.
Apart from these, Treñas said the city is working to ensure that there are sufficient hotel rooms, Intensive Care Unit (ICU) facilities, and hospitals in the city.
Residents should feel a sense of assurance that they will be tested accordingly as we move forward and open more economic activities, he added.
“Importante nga may testing capacity kita. Because tanan naton nga residents should be confident nga kon malatnan sila may ari kita testing capacity and hospitals. Kon sin-o ang kabatyag diri sa siyudad, we will be able to test them right away,” Treñas furthered.
If the testing and health facilities are established, the mayor is confident that the city will be among the first cities to recover from the pandemic.
“Very important sa aton nga as we open up more economic activities, kinahanglan ang tawo confident sila nga kon malatnan kita, may ara kita testing capacity. Aside from that we have rooms and hospitals nga maka-take care sa ila. I think we have established all that so para sa akon we will be the first among the cities, if not the first nga maka-recover.”
The mayor added that he is closely coordinating with Western Visayas leaders to align economic activities in the region.
From the resumptions of interisland travel to commercial flights, the region is slowly opening up more economic activities under the new normal scheme.
“Masugod naman ang flights naton. Amat-amat na ni but it will be difficult, we are not going to find this easy but para sa akon kinahanglan na gid. We need to start additional economic activities otherwise ma-delay pa ni and mabudlayan na kita ka-recover,” Treñas stressed.
Iloilo City and other provinces and highly urbanized cities (HUCs) in Western Visayas are under Modified General Community Quarantine (MGCQ) from June 15 to June 30, based on Resolution No. 41 of the national Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the management of emerging infectious diseases.
As of Monday, COVID-19 cases in Western Visayas neared the 200-mark with 197 patients, according to the Department of Health-Center for Health Development Western Visayas (DOH-CHD 6).
Iloilo City has 20 indigenous cases and 28 repatriates infected with COVID-19.
