By Joseph B.A. Marzan
Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor Jr. on Wednesday said that the province will continue its normal procedure on the repatriations of Returning Overseas Filipinos (ROFs) as it awaits clarification on the recent guidelines from the National Task Force on COVID-19 (NTF).
In a phone interview, Defensor confirmed to Daily Guardian that he met members of the Regional Inter-Agency Task Force (RIATF), which is spearheaded by the Department of Interior and Local Government-Region 6 (DILG-6).
The governor said he sought clarification with the RIATF as to the NTF’s recent unnumbered memorandum dated Aug 19, 2020 which discouraged the 14-day facility-based quarantine for ROFs upon their arrival in their hometown or home province.
The memorandum was signed and issued by the NTF Chairperson and Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana.
Defensor said the memorandum conflicted with Resolution No. 67 of the national Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, which allows local government units (LGU) to quarantine residents who return to the province.
“I met with the members of the RIATF, the [Office of Civil Defense], the DILG, and the League of Municipalities [of the Philippines] President [San Enrique Mayor] Trixie Fernandez about the order of the [NTF] dated August [19] which stated that [ROFs] should not be subject to another 14-day quarantine. There was a conflict with Resolution No. 67 of the [IATF]. Our [Community Quarantine or CQ] guidelines state that LGUs can quarantine returning citizens from outside of the LGU,” Defensor said.
The governor said he was able to get some clarification on the rules.
“What I understood was that those who did not complete their quarantine, in Manila for example, maybe five days, they will then complete the remaining nine days here in Iloilo. Our consensus was that they could complete the 14 days at the LGU’s facilities, but nothing is final yet.”
He also confirmed that the NTF will be meeting today, Sept. 3 to further discuss clarifications on the memorandum.
Defensor will also meet with mayors on the same day, and that the province will remain under “status quo” on their repatriation procedures as they await clarifications.
“The [NTF] will meet [today], and they will resolve this. Hopefully, they will be able to resolve this. I will also meet with the mayors in the afternoon. We haven’t resolved anything yet, we’ll remain on status quo for the moment. What we have been doing previously, we will continue to do that. We’ll learn what we should be doing after the NTF decides,” he said.
