Mayors: Stop LSI repatriations

By Joseph B.A. Marzan and Jennifer P. Rendon

 

Municipal mayors in Iloilo province on Tuesday opposed the planned resumption of the repatriation of Locally-Stranded Individuals (LSI) to avoid further spikes in new cases of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Regional Director Jose Jovian Ingeniero sent a memorandum to other regional directors announcing the lifting of the ban on LSI repatriations today, July 15, 2020.

DILG Secretary Eduardo Año in June 2020 instructed local government officials to suspend receiving LSIs from Manila and Cebu due to the spike of COVID-19 cases in other parts of the country attributed to them.

In a comment on the provincial government’s official Facebook page, Concepcion mayor Raul Banias said he would reject LSI returnees until the situation in his town has cleared up.

“More LSIs coming our way! But I will not accept any until ma release RT PCR tests sang akon Frontliners and results sang nabilin ko nga LSIs and OFWs. Naka Lock Down pa amon Isolation Facility. In the meantime, [Overseas Workers Welfare Administration] and DILG lang ma quarantine sa ila sa [Iloilo City]. Our Absorptive Capacity is very Low. Short na ako sang [Personal Protective Equipment],” Banias said.

The Iloilo Chapter of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP), meanwhile, released a resolution requesting the national Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases through Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor Jr. to suspend the return of LSIs to the province indefinitely.

Defensor on Monday said that while he is awaiting guidelines from the IATF, the provincial government is actively preparing for LSI returns after the ban is lifted.

In its resolution, the LMP cited the recent record-breaking spike of COVID-19 cases in the region on July 12, where 53 LSIs out of 67 cases are in the province.

“The continuing transport of [LSIs] will greatly contribute to the increase of COVID-19 cases in the province of Iloilo,” the LMP said in its resolution.

In asking for the indefinite suspension of LSIs transportation to the province, the LMP resolution cited Article III, Section 15 of the Constitution declaring it a policy of the State to protect and promote the right to health of the people; Proclamation No. 929 declaring a State of Calamity throughout the country and imposing an Enhanced Community Quarantine in the entire Luzon due to COVID-19 pandemic; and Republic Act No. 11469 (Bayanihan to Heal as One Act), which granted the President temporary authority to carry out tasks necessary to implement measures to mitigate, if not contain the transmission of COVID-19, and undertake means to prevent the overburdening of the health care system.

The Iloilo mayors believed that the “continuing transport of LSIs will greatly contribute to the increase of COVID-19 cases in the province of Iloilo.”

As of June 14, Western Visayas recorded 611 confirmed COVID-19 cases, including 452, or around 74 percent, are either LSIs or repatriated overseas Filipino workers.