By Joseph B.A. Marzan
In an effort to prevent the spread and local transmission of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), residents in Iloilo City who wish to buy basic goods and commodities during the extended Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) will now have to carry their quarantine passes at all times within the city.
Mayor Jerry Treñas on April 17, 2020 issued Executive Order No. 064-2020, which mandates the presentation of the Barangay Quarantine Passes while moving within the city and in entering borders and city limits during the ECQ period.
The new EO also tasked personnel of the Philippine National Police, Philippine Army, Iloilo City Public Safety and Transportation Management Office, barangay officials and others persons in charge of maintaining peace and order to require and inspect quarantine passes.
Persons who will violate the order will face administrative and/or criminal charges.
The ECQ in Iloilo City started on March 20, 2020 after Treñas issued Executive Order No. 055-2020 and was originally set to expire on April 14.
It was extended to April 30 through Executive Order No. 061-2020 issued on April 8.
NEW QUARANTINE PASSES
On April 7, the mayor announced that new and uniform quarantine passes will be distributed to residents through their respective barangays.
In a text message to the Daily Guardian, the mayor confirmed that the new passes, which now bear his signature instead of the punong barangays’, have been handed to the barangays for distribution to the residents.
He likewise clarified that the old barangay-issued quarantine passes will still be valid until all residents have been given the replacement passes.
Under EO 055, one household member is entitled to a quarantine pass, which they can use when leaving the house to buy essential goods such as food and medicine, among others.
