By Joseph B.A. Marzan
Iloilo City will most likely shift from an Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) to a more relaxed General Community Quarantine (GCQ) despite the onslaught of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the country, according to Mayor Jerry Treñas.
Treñas placed the city under ECQ via Executive Order (EO) No. 055-2020 issued on March 15, 2020 In response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Under the ECQ, non-essential establishments in Iloilo City were temporarily closed down while exempted establishments were regulated with shorter operating hours. Also, the sale of alcoholic products was prohibited, and social distancing and curfew measures were imposed.
The ECQ was supposed to expire on April 14, 2020 but was extended to April 30 via EO No. 063 issued on April 8.
The extension was due to the growing number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the city and by recommendation of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID).
The ECQ was again extended to May 15 upon further recommendation of the IATF-EID on April 30 via EO No. 068.
Prior to the May 15 extension, the city had already been deliberating on its exit plan with the help of experts from the University of the Philippines Visayas (UPV).
In a press conference on Monday, Treñas said a GCQ scenario is more likely given the circumstances that the city is now in.
The mayor said he had met with city officials to discuss what may be done upon shifting to a GCQ.
“We met with the COVID-19 team to discuss reports we received on our activities. First is the preparation for the GCQ, assuming we could go to a GCQ on [May] 16th. We have a meeting later at 2 p.m. (Monday) with the ad hoc committee so the people will not be overwhelmed by the sudden shift to a GCQ,” he said.
City Hall department heads also met with executive assistants to prepare the city’s workforce “so we can push forward with our other programs and projects,” Treñas said.
The City government will also implement belt-tightening measures to come up with funds for COVID-19 efforts.
“We are looking at our economic measures, such as reducing job hires to 16 days, except to those which we badly need, such as for our [Beautification Program] because some of the plants along the city [roads] are now dead, our street sweepers because we also definitely need them, and third is our PSTMO, we are going to need some for full-time,” Treñas said.
The city government will also tap the City Sports Office and the Barangay Secretariat in enforcing rules on social distancing and the use of face masks and availability of alcohol and alcogel in establishments.
The mayor said he will continue food assistance and the community kitchens.
“I want the barangay captains to know that even if we go on GCQ for the whole month of May, we will continue food assistance and we will continue our community kitchens. The people at the community kitchens are already exhausted because they cook everyday and they bring the food, but they will push to go all the way until the end of May because when we go to GCQ, not all workers [can return] and not all of them will be given [SAP],” he added.
Treñas said that while COVID-19 is still present in the city, there is no current precedent for the city government not to move to GCQ.
“I think we are ready to go to GCQ. We have to understand that going to GCQ, or even if we do away with a general quarantine, as long as we have a quarantine, the virus will still be there whether we like it or not. With where we came from, the virus is still there, it will still be invisible, it will be with us until there is a vaccine or medicine for it. As long as we are ready when there is an infection in one area, we put it on lockdown, give us three days and in the meantime we will just give them food. We will do mass testing so we can isolate those who are positive. For me, we are ready. It will still be with us as long as we control it and we have measures in place such as social distancing and [provision of] alcohol,” he said.
The mayor said that the exit plan presented by the UPV experts will still be implemented, but with changes based on guidelines of the IATF-EID.
“That will still be done but we have to reconcile them with the IATF-EID general rules. There are general guidelines by the IATF. The exit plan by UP was already incorporated with the Ad Hoc Committee decision,” he said.
He admitted that the city government is being cautious with the future implementation of the GCQ, saying that it is preparing the rules for transitioning.
“We are excited that maybe we can slide [to GCQ] but at the same time we are apprehensive because the alcohol raiders went wild last time. We need to prepare protocol so we wouldn’t go to excess. We are also worried because if we don’t have any more [quarantine] passes, we wouldn’t need checkpoints. We are apprehensive but we must go on. We cannot afford to remain in this state,” he said.
He pointed that the economic activities must resume, saying that he will be coordinating for the resumption of construction projects.
He will also encourage the city’s top taxpayers to pay their Real Property Taxes (RPT) and Business Taxes to augment the city’s funds.
The city government recently extended the RPT payment deadline to May 10 and the business tax payment deadline to May 15.
“And I wish to add to that, the economy has to revive, that’s why I called our city engineer to continue construction which can be easily funded. Tomorrow, I will call the DPWH and encourage them to go on. I also asked the Finance Committee for a list of the Top 50 who pay real property and business tax. I will also call them because the economy has to move. We have to start moving already. After two months, we must move,” he said.
FACILITIES
Treñas also confirmed that the city government is pushing through with the P15-million container van laboratory during the GCQ, which will be located at the Technical Institute of Iloilo City (TIIC) in Molo district.
He added that there will be other temporary facilities at the TIIC, such as a storage facility for relief goods and evacuation center for possible disasters.
“We also talked about our proposed laboratory. The proposed laboratory is beside the TIIC. We will also put there our evacuation center and our storage for relief goods. We are looking at one month to finish the laboratory. We’ve started procurement for our [Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction] machine and we are also preparing other necessities. We are preparing all this especially the laboratory because in the ‘new normal’ we see that we really need to check on our residents,” he said.
The mayor also said that several private medical facilities in the city have expressed their interest to operate COVID laboratories.
“There are private hospitals who have expressed interest, such as the Metro Iloilo Hospital and The Medical City, and today QualiMed expressed their interest. QualiMed said that if we follow the decision tool of the DOH, everyone who will be coming there to be tested who are then qualified under the DOH decision tool, all of them will be tested free of charge under PhilHealth. So we will be very happy. They have already sent their plans because they are very interested and they have already asked to have their permits fast-tracked, etc. and we are going to do so for us because the more testing centers there are in the city, it will be better for us,” he said.
CONSULTANT
Treñas also said that Iloilo Doctors Hospital Assistant Administrator Dr. Ludivico Jurao is now the city’s a special consultant on infectious diseases.
The mayor said that Dr. Roland Fortuna and Dr. Annabelle Tang, who are the City Health Office’s current point persons on COVID-19, are general practitioners, hence the need for a consultant who has experience on infectious diseases.
