Mayor asks nat’l task force to limit flights, ferry trips to Bacolod

By Dolly Yasa

 

BACOLOD City – Mayor Evelio Leonardia on Thursday asked the National Inter-Agency Task Force (NIATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases to issue guidelines for stricter travel when commercial flights and sea travel resume within this month.

In a July 13, 2020 letter to Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, NIATF; and Cabinet Secretary Karlo Alexei Nograles, NIATF co-chair, Leonardia requested the task force to “issue a guideline that limits flights and ferry trips to a combined total of 600 passengers per week.”

The mayor also asked the task force to “instruct the airline and shipping companies to coordinate with us (City Mayor’s Office) and secure our permission at least two days before any scheduled flight or ferry trip.”

“(This) will enable us to determine if we will have available quarantine facilities for the returnees and prepare for their arrival. At least by this scheme, what is not an easy job will become less difficult to manage,” the mayor explained.

Leonardia’s request is aimed at stemming the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 as most of the recent cases were persons who returned to the city and province in the past two months.

Leonardia said the resumption of commercial flights to Bacolod-Silay Airport after July 12 is a welcome development, as it will animate anew the economy of Negros Occidental and Bacolod City.

“From another light, however, we foresee a surge of LSIs (locally stranded individuals), OFWs (overseas Filipino workers), and ROFs (returning overseas Filipinos) returning to our city, not to mention the other categories of travelers. And this, if uncontrolled, will affect the capacity of our Quarantine Facilities to accommodate them as we strictly implement our health protocols,” the mayor added.

Councilor Renecito Novero, chair of the Quarantine Center Action Team (QCAT), also signed the letter.

Copies of the letter were also furnished to DILG (Department of the Interior and Local Government) Secretary Eduardo Año, Presidential Spokesperson Herminio “Harry” Roque Jr., National Task Force COVID-19 chief implementer Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., and National Task Force COVID-19 chairman and Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, among other officials.