Iloilo lifts border and LSI restrictions but…

By Joseph B.A. Marzan

Iloilo province reverted to its original measures under the Modified General Community Quarantine (MGCQ) on July 7, 2020 by lifting border restrictions with neighboring provinces and exempting Locally-Stranded Individuals (LSIs) from entering the province.

But Iloilo Provincial Administrator Suzette Mamon told Daily Guardian that there are still regulations in place.

The provincial government on Tuesday released Executive Order No. 128-F, which was signed by Governor Arthur Defensor on Monday, July 6.

This superseded EO No. 128-E issued on July 1, which prohibited the entry of residents of Aklan, Antique, Capiz, and Negros Occidental provinces and Bacolod City.

EO 128-F also reinstated the original provisions of EO No. 128 issued on May 31, which implemented the MGCQ.

Mamon said the move was the result of an agreement between provincial governors, city mayors, and the members of the inter-agency Western Visayas Regional Task Force on COVID-19 (WVRTF) during a meeting on Monday.

“They came up with an agreement on harmonizing regulations at the borders, especially on entering Panay Island. The Philippine Coast Guard made a commitment that there would be no LSI entering the region because their travels are suspended by the [Department of Interior and Local Government],” Mamon said.

She clarified that residents of the region still have to show proof of their place of residence.

“There are no more restrictions. It is indicated here that ‘residents of Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Guimaras and Negros Occidental, and Bacolod City travelling therefrom and into the province’. Previously they weren’t allowed, but now we returned to the previous measure that they can travel freely. Several checkpoints will only require them to show proof that they are residents of their province or town,” she said.

 

CONTINUED RESTRICTION ON LSIs

Mamon said that while the LSI exemption was restored, the new EO must be read alongside the Department of Interior and Local Government’s (DILG) suspension order.

DILG Secretary Eduardo Año ordered the suspension of LSI repatriations in June after a spike in confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases in other parts of the country.

The governor on June 26 ordered the suspension of commercial flights to and from Iloilo in line with Año’s instruction.

“If we read national issuances, the EO shouldn’t apply to LSIs. The new EO simply restores the governor’s original EO, but this is now superseded by the directive of the DILG. We have to read it with national issuances, until two weeks time from June 28,” she said.

She said that LSIs and Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) must continue to follow the national government’s guidelines.