MORATORIUM. Mayor Jerry P. Treñas announces a moratorium on sweeper flights and trips going to Iloilo City to allow personnel to rest. In his announcement on Thursday (Aug. 6, 2020), he said that Covid-19 cases are going up and personnel have to focus in responding to the concern. (PNA file photo)
ILOILO CITY – Iloilo City will not accept sweeper flights and trips for two weeks starting Thursday to allow local government personnel “to rest”.
“We will not accept sweeper flights and trips for two weeks. (Coronavirus disease 2019) cases are going up during this period and I want our personnel to focus on the problem,” said Mayor Jerry Treñas, who is currently on home quarantine, in his announcement posted at the city government’s official Facebook page.
He added that all flights, regular and sweeper, have to be coordinated with his office once the two-week moratorium is lifted.
“If the flights or trips are not coordinated, then they can always go back to their ports or airports of origin. There is no sweeper flight or trip coordinated with me up to now - warning is hereby given for anyone to return to your port of origin. I will not allow you to disembark. Please be guided accordingly," he said.
The situational report released by the Iloilo City Emergency Operations Center showed that as of Wednesday, the city has a total of 119 local cases, with 45 patients tagged as recovered.
A total of 26 are still being quarantined in a facility, 24 are on home quarantine, 19 are admitted in hospitals and five have died.
For locally stranded individuals, returning overseas Filipino workers, and authorized persons outside of residence (APOR), Iloilo City has logged 98 confirmed Covid-19 cases; 51 have already recovered, and the rest are facility quarantined.
In a phone interview, Regional Task Force Covid-19 chair and Civil Defense regional director Jose Roberto Nuñez said that they are still awaiting receipt of the document signed by the city mayor regarding the travel moratorium.
Nuñez said while local government units (LGUs) have the “prerogative to request the suspension of travel”, there is a procedure that should be followed regarding this matter.
He said that they still have to submit a letter request that will be submitted to the Regional Inter-Agency Task Force, which in turn will endorse the document to the national task force.
“It is the national (task force) that will take action,” he said, adding that the national resolution mandates for “unhampered” travel although it can also be appealed.
The national task force works 24/7, thus upon receipt of the document, it will be immediately endorsed to the person in-charge.
He added that the suspension could not take effect yet pending the action of the national task force.
The task force chief also called for an emergency meeting Thursday afternoon following the declaration of the city government.
A report from the Regional Task Force showed that 77 locally stranded individuals have arrived in the region from Cebu on Thursday via the M/V Trans-Asia 3.
Of the total of 77 LSIs, 46 have disembarked in Bacolod while 31 at the Fort San Pedro Terminal in Iloilo City. The 31 LSIs are composed of nine from this city, 14 from Iloilo province, seven from Antique and one from Capiz.
From Manila, the Philippine Airlines sweeper flight carried 116 returning overseas Filipino workers (ROFs) that landed at the Iloilo International Airport past midnight on Thursday.
They are composed of eight ROFs bound for Aklan; 14 for Antique; Capiz, 19; Iloilo City, 20; Iloilo province, 51; and Guimaras, four. (PNA)
