Iloilo City confident, ready for ‘new normal’

By Emme Rose Santiagudo

While the national Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on COVID-19 has yet to announce the new quarantine status of the region, City Mayor Jerry Treñas said that he is confident that Iloilo City and the rest of Western Visayas will slide to the so-called “new normal” on June 16, 2020.

President Rodrigo Duterte is expected to announce the quarantine status of the regions in the country, today, June 15.

Compared to other regions, Treñas believes that the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) crisis in Western Visayas has already been controlled to a certain extent.

“Nakita naton nga to a certain extent we have controlled the situation diri sa aton, and dyutay na ang kaso compared sa iban nga regions. We would like to think that Region 6 will be among the first of the regions to be able to move under the new normal,” he said in a press conference on Thursday.

All provinces and highly urbanized cities (HUCs) in Western Visayas are under Modified General Community Quarantine (MGCQ) from June 1 to June 15, 2020, based on Resolution No. 41 of the IATF.

Before this, Iloilo City was classified as moderate-risk and should have been placed under General Community Quarantine (GCQ). But the mayor appealed the classification to join the rest of Western Visayas under MGCQ.

The IATF then took back its previous announcement and classified the entire Western Visayas as low-risk and placed it under MGCQ.

The MGCQ allowed practically all business establishments to operate at a 50 percent capacity provided they observe minimum health standards like physical distancing.

Religious activities were allowed but at a limited capacity. All airports and seaports in the region remain closed and only cater to returning Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs), locally stranded individuals (LSIs), and cargos.

According to Treñas, he and the other local chief executives in Western Visayas have already been preparing for the new policies to be implemented after June 15.

Treñas said they all agreed to allow interisland travel of sea vessels and fast crafts from Bacolod City and Negros Occidental by June 16.

“Ma-organize kita technical working group para ma-finalize ang agreements naton with all the other leaders. Ang isa ma-allow na kita inter-island fast craft. This is now a start and a beginning para matapos na naton ining nga crisis. We will move forward and this time with synergy sa iban nga LGUs diri sa region,” he said.

The mayor said they will also focus on the economic recovery of the region following massive losses that it incurred amid the crisis.

In Iloilo City, Treñas said he already discussed with the City Treasurer income-generating projects to be implemented in the metro to revitalize the economy.

“We have identified projects. Ang mga markets naton sa La Paz, Arevalo, and Mandurriao and plazas naton kinahanglan maubra na including other income-generating projects para makaamat-amat naman kita hulag diri,” he said.

Treñas said the city is also gearing towards boosting its testing capacity especially once it slides down to the new normal.

“The delays subong nga na-experience ta because isa pa lang diri sa Iloilo ang laboratory, ang Western Visayas Medical Center – Sub National Laboratory (WVMC-SNL). But we expect six more laboratories to be put up here in Iloilo,” he said.

Three private hospitals in Iloilo City – Metro Iloilo Hospital, Qualimed, and the Medical City Iloilo –expressed their intention to seek accreditation as additional testing laboratories, according to the mayor.

The West Visayas State University Medical Center (WVSUMC), Iloilo City government, and Iloilo provincial government will also establish their own testing laboratories.

“Importante may testing gid kita as we go on to the new normal,” Treñas said.

With all the equipment and training, the mayor said he is also confident that the health sector in the region is now more than prepared to fight against Covid-19.

 

“While nakulbaan kita sa sini nga masakit, I think mas preparado na ang aton health sector, subong may mga personal protective equipment (PPE) na kita, we have more equipment, training, daw mas hapos na aton pagplastar subong. Medical people are more prepared to meet this problem,” he said.