85 PERSONS UNDER MONITORING: City Hall eyes strict ‘police’ quarantine

By Emme Rose Santiagudo

The Iloilo City government is lobbying for an ordinance requiring all persons under monitoring (PUMs) for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) to undergo voluntary quarantine.

Mayor Jerry Treñas said he scheduled a meeting with the health authorities and other city to finalize an ordinance for the strict voluntary quarantine in the metro which will then be submitted to the Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP).

The mayor said he will ask for the support of the Philippine National Police (PNP) to enforce the voluntary quarantine for those who refuse to undergo the quarantine procedures.

“In the meantime na wala pa kita  ordinansa, we are going to ask the support of PNP to enforce the voluntary quarantine even without the ordinance. But, kon may ordinansa, mas manami pa gid,” he said.

As of Tuesday, the mayor said the city government is currently monitoring 82 PUMs in Iloilo City who are mostly overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and had travel history from China, Hong Kong, and Macau.

Treñas said they will have to finalize the protocols for health centers including the staging of huge events like graduation ceremonies and barangays fiesta.

“We have scheduled a meeting with the officials and we will have to see what we can do to the upcoming events and scheduled conventions here in the city,” he said.

The mayor assured that the city government is exhausting all the measures to keep the city free from COVID-19.

“We are doing everything to keep the city free from COVID-19. I foresee that this situation will still escalate before it will go down. It will get worse before it can get better,” he said.

He appealed to the public to not panic amid the concerns over COVID-19.

“Diri sa siyudad importante, indi lang kita mag-panic. We are asking everyone to cooperate with us and also remain vigilant,” he added.