EMERGENCY MEETING. The Western Visayas Inter-Agency Task Force (RIATF) and Regional Task Force on Covid-19 convene for an emergency meeting on Saturday (May 15, 2021) for the travel moratorium request of Iloilo City. The concern has been elevated to the national task force for approval. (Photo courtesy of Christian Nagaynay)
ILOILO CITY – The Western Visayas Inter-Agency Task Force (RIATF) is seeking the approval of the national task force for a seven-day suspension of trips from Panay to Negros Occidental.
Christian Nagaynay, head secretariat of the RIATF, said together with the Regional Task Force on Covid-19, they convened for an emergency meeting on Saturday to discuss the request of Iloilo City Mayor Jerry P. Treñas for the moratorium.
Governors Arthur Defensor of Iloilo Province and Eugenio Jose "Bong" Villareal Lacson of Negros Occidental were also present in the meeting and both agreed to the request.
“That request was prompted by the observation of the Iloilo City Covid Team that there has been an increase in their recorded cases and they wanted to contain it. Since they acknowledged that there have been frequent trips from Iloilo City to Bacolod with people from Iloilo City moving to Bacolod City and vice versa,” Nagaynay said in a phone interview.
Treñas in his post on the Facebook page of the Iloilo City said that uniformed personnel and those traveling for medical and humanitarian reasons are not covered by the moratorium request.
However, the RIATF has no authority over the request because it touches on the intra-zonal movement.
Nagaynay said since local governments in the region are under modified general community quarantine (MGCQ), so there should be no movement restrictions.
“We elevated the request to the NTF and the (national) IATF for their approval. We recommended positively to the NTF that request,” he said.
He added that while it was Iloilo City that made the request, the RIATF submitted a resolution to the national IATF, which included the movement from Panay Island to Negros to also be suspended.
The RIATF is also eyeing to control the mobility although the rate of cases in Negros Occidental and Bacolod City is already decreasing.
“We just don’t want to play complacent by this time. We put together our actions to be taken by all provinces so that it will not be exclusive only to a single LGU like Iloilo City,” Nagaynay said.
He said once it is approved, then it is the RIATF, in consultation with local government units, that will determine the implementation period with two days allowance for the cascading of information before it takes effect.
The regional health bulletin released by the Department of Health Western Visayas Center for Health Development on May 14 recorded 313 new positive cases in the region coming from Aklan with 46; Antique, 32; Capiz and Guimaras with 11 each; Iloilo, 68; Negros Occidental, 23; Bacolod City, 78 and Iloilo City, 44.
The new cases raised the region’s total cumulative cases to 40,128, with 5,459 active. (PNA)
