City government asks LSIs to coordinate their arrival

By Joseph B.A. Marzan

Iloilo City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO) chief Donna Magno lamented the lack of coordination on the arrival of Locally Stranded Individuals (LSI) in the city amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

In an interview with Aksyon Radyo Iloilo, Magno said changes in the repatriation procedures have complicated the situation of LSI arrivals with local government units (LGUs), especially with their home barangays.

“I get surprised when barangay captains call and inform me that an LSI arrived in their barangay. Unlike before, we have to secure a letter of acceptance, which would guide them on our protocols. But now, it’s the LSIs themselves, the barangays, or their relatives who would call us for guidance. When they arrive, they ask the Coast Guard what to do next, to which they answer that the LGU has to fetch them, and that would be the only time when we would know,” Magno said.

She said that those who inform them beforehand have had no problems with the procedures even as she encouraged LSIs who have yet to return to do so as well.

LSIs will be fetched by the city’s Public Safety and Transportation Management Office (PSTMO) or the Iloilo City Emergency Response Team (ICERT) from their port of arrival.

They will be taken to the Iloilo City Diamond Jubilee Hall for swab testing using the Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) method.

“There are those who inform us before they return, so our operations center’s staff were able to guide them on the city’s health protocols. So they have to inform us before they arrive with their details, we will fetch them, and bring them straight to the Jubilee Hall, and the [RT-PCR test results] will determine which quarantine facility they will be put in,” she said.

Mayor Jerry Treñas previously warned LSIs that he will request the suspension of their return if they don’t coordinate with the city government.

Memorandum No. 2020-087 of the Department of Interior and Local Government provides for the procedure and requirements for the return of LSIs to their places of residence.

They will have to inform the barangay hall of their current location, which will then coordinate with their respective LGUs for further facilitation with the LSI’s LGU of origin.

They must also secure a certification showing negative results for COVID-19, and travel authority to be issued by the Police Regional Office where they are located in.

The DILG Memo defines LSIs as foreign nationals or Filipino citizens in a specific locality within the Philippine who have expressed intention to return to their place of residence or home origin.

They are further classified as either workers, students, tourists, or other individuals stranded in various localities while in transit.