IMPRACTICAL: Biz community nixes ECQ in Bacolod City

By Dolly Yasa

 

BACOLOD City – The business sector in Bacolod and in Negros Occidental is against the re-imposition of the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) amid rising COVID-19 cases here.

In a position paper submitted to Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran, five business groups in the city and the province of Negros Occidental said “the people are already experiencing the negative impact of the economic downturn due to the quarantine measures imposed earlier and another lockdown may lead to more businesses closing, increase joblessness more people falling deeper into poverty and its knock-on effects on peace and order.”

Familiaran told the Daily Guardian Wednesday that the position paper was also submitted to Mayor Evelio Leonardia.

The paper was signed by Edgar Sy, president of the Bacolod Filipino- Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Henry Uy, chairman of the Negros Occidental Filipino Chinese Amity  Club Inc.; Roberto L. Montelibano, president of the Metro Bacolod Chamber of Commerce and Industry; William Ong president of the Northern Negros Filipino-Chinese  Chamber of Commerce and Industry; and Alfonso Cu, president of the Southern Negros Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The position paper further stated that quarantine measures are necessary to stop COVID-19 transmission “but the specific measures to be taken should consider the balance between slowing down the rate of infections and its impact on the economy.”

It added that the business sector calls for the full cooperation of the people of Bacolod and Negros Occidental, imposition of stricter enforcement of health protocol standards, implementation of aggressive tracking and improving the monitoring system, and localized lockdowns in areas where community transmission is monitored.

The group also suggested measures to help curb the transmission without resorting to ECQ.

They suggested strict enforcement of discipline and penalties and increased police visibility in high traffic areas to strictly enforce the minimum health standards such as physical distancing, wearing of masks, and the compliance of the vulnerable population.

They also want to empower local barangay tanods (village police) and hold barangay officials accountable for strict compliance with minimum health standards in their sitios, puroks and barangays with constant monitoring and imposition of strict disciplinary measures.

They further suggested imposition of earlier curfew and liquor ban to limit movement and prevent unnecessary gatherings and continue to disallow big gatherings as well.

“While quarantine measures are necessary to save lives, it is also necessary to reduce the possibility of more lasting damage to the economy. Our local economy may not survive another lockdown and vulnerable people, families and communities can fall deeper into poverty,” the position paper further said.

Earlier, a group of doctors here posted on social media a petition addressed to President Rodrigo Duterte appealing to revert the city to ECQ citing the spike in the number of COVID cases.

In Iloilo City, Carlito Galvez, the chief implementer of the Philippine government’s policies on COVID-19, also nixed the call for imposing once more the ECQ in Bacolod City.

“It’s not practical. We have to look at the granular data. Maybe it’s just one barangay or three barangays,” said Galvez after meeting the Western Visayas regional COVID-19 task force in Iloilo City on Wednesday.

Galvez said the local governments can implement “surgical ECQ” in areas with COVID-19 cases.

He also noted the socio-economic impact of locking down an entire town or city.

“We do not need more collateral. Our economy is already down,” Galvez said.

Another factor to be considered in imposing the ECQ was the absorptive capacity of health facilities.

Galvez said the situation in Bacolod was far from the situation in Metro Manila or Cebu, where there were thousands more COVID-19 cases and more fatalities. (With a report from Manila Bulletin)