Mayor decries hard-headed residents of COVID-hit village

Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas slammed residents of a barangay where clustering of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases was noted.

Treñas was referring to Brgy. Pali Benedicto, Mandurriao which is under three-day lockdown after 10 COVID-19 cases were detected in the area.

Barangay Pali Benedicto was placed under lockdown or surgical extreme enhanced community quarantine (SEECQ) for three days since Wednesday.

The lockdown affected 62 households after 10 residents from the said barangay tested positive for COVID-19.

Data from the Iloilo City government showed that seven residents from Zone 5 in Pali Benedicto and three residents in Zone 2 were infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

Treñas said they are struggling in disciplining the residents in the said barangay as they continue to roam around even after being subjected to confirmatory tests.

“Ang problema ang mga tawo da daw budlay i-control. During the time nga gin-swab sila sige pa lagaw nila, we hope ma-control ang transmission dira,” he said.

Apart from Pali Benedicto, clustering of cases was also detected in Bo. Obrero, Lapuz district.

The Department of Health-Western Visayas Center for Health Development (DOH-CHD 6) has explained that clustering of Covid-19 cases are those areas with two to four recorded cases in two successive weeks.

Initial data from the health department showed that five residents of Brgy. Bo. Obrero were infected with COVID-19.

Among the first to have contracted the virus were two relatives of a COVID-19 patient who expired recently.

Last week, the mayor placed on lockdown around 20 barangays in Zone 2 and portions of Zone 3 in Bo. Obrero for three days to pave way for massive contact tracing and testing.

 

COMMUNITY SERVICE

Meanwhile, people who do not wear masks or observe proper physical distancing in Iloilo City may be made to render community service, as Treñas announced Thursday he is pushing for an ordinance to penalize quarantine protocol violators amid the continuing threat of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the region.

In a press conference, Treñas said the city’s COVID-19 Task Force is considering pushing for an ordinance upgrading penalty fines for non-compliance, and to include community service as a new penalty.

“We’ve seen that compliance with wearing masks and physical distancing, sometimes people also forget to wash hands or use alcohol. This is very important, and we will be very strict with it. We’ve agreed to upgrade the penalty. Aside from that, we will push for an ordinance imposing a penalty of community service. Those who will be caught violating minimum health standards will be made to clean our roads and cultivate plants along the Esplanade and Diversion Road,” Treñas said.

Under the city’s Regulation Ordinance Nos. 2020-061 and 2020-066, which impose wearing of face masks in public and implementing physical distancing, respectively, violators will be fined P500 for non-compliance.

Ordinance No. 2020-066 also fines establishments P5,000 for non-implementation of physical distancing measures in their spaces.

A compliance team was formed in mid-June 2020 by the city government to implement the measures and to issue ‘compliance tickets’ to certify the violations made and the penalty to be imposed.

The mayor said that the city needs to remember that COVID-19 will stay in the city for a long time to stress the need for minimum health standards.

“We need to put in our heads that: number one, the virus is there; number two, it is here to stay; number three, we will have to live with this; and number four, we have to observe the minimum health standards. I keep repeating that. We have to assume we are all asymptomatic. We have to treat each other as if we have the virus. We just have to take care of ourselves,” the mayor said.

Iloilo City has been under the Modified General Community Quarantine (MGCQ) since June 1, 2020 via Executive Order No. 086 s. 2020. (Joseph B.A. Marzan and ERS)