By Emme Rose Santiagudo
The Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas (OPAV) is pushing for a “One Panay” movement in the islands of Panay and Guimaras to harmonize quarantine protocols amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
In the regular network briefing of Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Martin Andanar on Wednesday, OPAV Assistant Secretary Jonji Gonzales introduced the “One Panay” policy which has been supported by the governors of Antique and Capiz.
According to Gonzales, the “One Panay” movement will allow governors and leaders to have a unified executive order and harmonized guidelines with regards to locally stranded individuals, Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) and border control.
“Yung ‘One Panay’ policy will allow governors to have a cohesive and one EO for all these issues of locally stranded individuals, OFWs and border control,” he said.
Gonzales asked for the support of Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor Jr. who was also a guest in the network briefing for the “One Panay” movement.
“Panawagan ko kay Gov. Defensor to lead this movement kasi nakapanayam ko rin sina Antique Governor Rhodora Cadiao and Capiz Governor Esteban Contreras and they both supported the initiative,” he said.
Defensor welcomed the initiative of the OPAV emphasizing that it would benefit the residents who will travel from province to province for work.
“We are very open with the suggestion of the national government. Mas maganda kasi we are one island as Panay and Guimaras island so we must have common quarantine procedures. It would be more practical for people from Iloilo to enter Panay through Aklan or Capiz and it will be easy for them to return to their home provinces,” he said.
Defensor said he already talked to Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas who is arranging a meeting with governors and mayors of Panay for the said movement.
Meanwhile, Treñas said he is ready to lead and support the “One Panay” movement.
“I am very pleased to hear this. We are ready together with Governor Defensor to lead the Panay leaders. As a matter of fact, we are arranging a meeting tomorrow with governors in Western Visayas para maistoryahan na naman ang mga concerns,” he said in a press conference on Wednesday.
The mayor underscored the need to move forward as the general community quarantine (GCQ) in Iloilo City and the rest of Western Visayas ends on May 31, 2020.
“We really have to move on. We understand that COVID-19 will be here with us. Ginalantaw ta by May 31, either makadto kita modified GCQ or new normal but just the same aside sa concerns ta, we have to look forward already,” he said.
All provinces and highly urbanized cities (HUCs) in Western Visayas were placed under GCQ from May 16 to 31 upon the recommendation of the national Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on COVID-19.
The IAT has yet to announce whether GCQ in the region will be lifted, extended, or downgraded.
