Possible extension of ECQ in Iloilo City still under study

By Emme Rose Santiagudo

Will the Iloilo City government follow the move of Iloilo province to extend the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) to May 15, 2020?

Mayor Jerry Treñas said on Thursday that he will consult the governors in Panay island and Guimaras on their next move following the Iloilo provincial government’s decision.

“We will be consulting with Governor Arthur Defensor, Jr. and all the other Governors of Panay and Guimaras. It will be about the decision of Governor Arthur Defensor Jr. regarding the ECQ extension until May 15,” Treñas said in a statement posted on his social media page on Thursday.

The ECQ was imposed to stop the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the city and province of Iloilo.

Defensor announced that the ECQ in Iloilo province will be extended to May 15 under different terms and conditions.

Before this, Iloilo City has been gearing for the gradual lifting of ECQ and reopening by May 1.

Treñas has also sought recommendations and reactions from the different sectors to the quarantine exit plan proposed by a group of professors and experts from the University of the Philippines Visayas (UPV) on the gradual reopening by May 1.

“We really have to move forward and gradually lift our ECQ. We will study the exit plan submitted to us. We have to start somewhere,” he said in previous interviews.

On Monday, the mayor issued Executive Order No. 65 creating an ad hoc committee that will formulate and prescribe policies for the gradual lifting of the ECQ in Iloilo City.

The committee is composed of officials from the city government including representatives from the local business sector in Iloilo City such as Iloilo Business Club (IBC), Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), Iloilo Economic Development Foundation (ILED), Filipino Chinese Chamber of Commerce Iloilo, and Federation of Filipino Chinese Chamber of Commerce of Panay Inc. (FFCCCPI).

Iloilo City was first placed under enhanced community quarantine from March 20 to April 14, 2020.

The ECQ was extended to April 30 following local transmission of COVID-19 in the city.

On April 13, the level of quarantine was raised to an expanded ECQ, which limited the movement of people during weekends.

Under the new normal scheme proposed by the experts, the easing of the ECQ should start with the return to workplaces, followed by school activities, leisure activities, and travel.