BORDER CONTROL. A Cagayan de Oro village checks the entry of motorists in this August 2021 photo. The province is among the first in the country to implement granular lockdowns to contain the spread of Covid-19 cases. (Photo courtesy of CDO Official Facebook)
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – The Department of the Interior and Local Government in Region 10 (DILG-10) on Friday reminded local government units (LGUs) that Executive Orders (EOs) related to Covid-19 response should align with existing Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) guidelines.
DILG-10 Director Arnel Agabe, during an online Covid-19 Task Force briefer, said he was referring to LGUs in Misamis Occidental that issued EOs of a “no movement” policy on particular days to help reduce rising cases of Covid-19.
"If public transport is allowed, for example in enhanced community quarantine, it means to say that we only limit the number of passengers but we cannot suspend the public transport. At the same time, we want to clarify that if it's for essential purposes, we could not restrain people to go outside of their homes," he said.
He also said authorized persons outside of residence, especially health care workers and the workers of establishments allowed to operate even on weekends, and those in emergency situations should be exempted from the policy.
DILG-10 urged local chief executives to come up with complementary regulations and guidelines that are compliant with IATF resolutions.
As of September 17, DILG-10 recorded seven LGUs in Misamis Occidental with no movement days policy.
No Movement Sunday is currently implemented in Oroquieta City, and Calamba town; while No Movement Saturday is enforced by Tangub City, Jimenez, Plaridel, and Bonifacio towns.
Dr. David Mendoza, chief of the Local Health Division of the Department of Health Region 10, said LGUs initiate such measures as they believe that even once a week of no movement may decrease Covid-19 cases.
"We have yet to assess if these no movements are effective in the long run," he said.
DILG-10 has logged 135 establishments permanently closed and 1,743 displaced workers since the pandemic was declared in March 2020 until September 12.
Mylah Faye Aurora Cariño, Region 10 Director of the National Economic Development Authority, said there are also 2,039 temporarily closed establishments that affected 36,002 workers.
"Roughly 762 establishments have retrenched or reduced their workplace staff, displacing 9,670 workers. There are also 3,195 establishments that adopted flexible working arrangements, affecting 113,725 workers," she said. (PNA)
