‘NO LOCKDOWN’: Regional task forces’ travel advisory sows confusion

By Joseph B.A. Marzan

 

An advisory on travel restrictions issued by the regional task forces on the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused confusion on Tuesday after Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas publicly slammed it and called the pronouncements a “lockdown”.

The Western Visayas Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (WVIATF) and the Regional Task Force on COVID-19 (RTF COVID-19) released a joint advisory on Tuesday stating the adoption of national IATF Resolution No. 104.

It was signed by Department of Health-Western Visayas Center for Health Development (DOH-WV CHD) Director Dr. Emilia Monicimpo, WVIATF chairperson Department of Interior and Local Government-Region 6 (DILG-6) Director Juan Jovian Ingeniero, and RTF COVID-19 chairperson Office of Civil Defense-Region 6 (OCD-6) Director Jose Roberto Nuñez.

National IATF Resolution No. 104 issued last Mar. 20, 2021, placed the National Capital Region (NCR) and the neighboring provinces of Cavite, Bulacan, Laguna, and Rizal in a “bubble,” which was later called “NCR plus,” from Mar. 23 to Apr. 4, 2021.

The regional task forces’ advisory stated that only the following “essential travelers” were allowed to travel to and out of Western Visayas in reference to “NCR plus” area from March 23 to April 4:

– Health and emergency frontline services personnel;

– Government officials and government frontline personnel;

– Duly-authorized humanitarian assistance actors;

– Persons travelling for medical or humanitarian reasons;

– Persons going to the airport for travel abroad;

– Anyone crossing zones for work or business and going back home; and

– Returning Overseas Filipinos and Overseas Filipino Workers.

It also explicitly restricted the entry of returning Western Visayas residents from “NCR plus” as well as those travelling into the region for vacation or leisure purposes.

All flights and sea voyages from other parts of the country which are not covered by the national IATF resolution remain operational, subject to standing health protocols by receiving local government units (LGUs).

The advisory did not categorically state whether Western Visayas would be placed under a lockdown similar to the “NCR plus bubble”.

But shortly after the issuance of the advisory, Treñas questioned the authority of the task forces, stating that it was “tantamount to an economic sabotage”.

“In behalf of the city government of Iloilo we do not recognize the lockdown made by the regional IATF. They have no authority to place the whole region in lockdown. Only the duly elected government can do it. This is tantamount to an economic sabotage and is totally illegal,” the mayor said.

Treñas added that it was being corrected, referring to a text message by DILG Undersecretary Epimaco Densing.

The regional task force then issued a clarificatory statement signed by Ingeniero and Nuñez clarifying that there was no lockdown to be imposed and reiterated the travel restrictions.

“This is to inform all local government units, stakeholders, and the public that the Joint RTF and RIATF DID NOT DECLARE A LOCKDOWN in the entire Western Visayas. (sic) [Our] advisory released earlier merely adopted the provisions of National IATF Resolution No. 104, dated March 20, 2021, wherein only ‘essential travelers’ from National Capital Region and its travel bubble circuit that includes Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal Area, shall be allowed to travel into and outside of Western Visayas from March 23 to April 4, 2021,” the task forces said in the statement.