Region 6 LGUs stop accepting LSIs for now

SOME Local government units (LGUs) in Western Visayas will temporarily stop receiving locally stranded individuals (LSIs) this holiday season to free up their overwhelmed quarantine facilities.

The Regional Inter-Agency Task Force (RIATF) approved the request for travel moratorium for LSIs in the region, according to Aletha Nogra chief of Disaster Risk Reduction Management Division Office of the Civil Defense (OCD-6).

Under RIATF Resolution No. 96, the towns of Janiuay, Iloilo will not accept returning LSIs from December 14 to January 1; Batad, Iloilo (Dec. 5 to Jan. 4); Oton, Iloilo (Dec. 15 to Jan. 4); Tigbauan (Dec 15 to Jan. 15) and San Joaquin, Iloilo (Dec. 15 to Jan. 15).

Bacolod City will also stop receiving LSIs from Dec. 21 to Jan. 3 following the approval of Resolution No. 95.

Meanwhile, Resolution No. 97 imposed travel moratorium in Hinoba-an, Negros Occidental from Dec. 16 to Dec. 22; La Castellana (Dec. 22 to Jan. 5); and Badiangan, Iloilo (Dec.16 to Dec. 30); and Barotac Viejo, Iloilo (Dec. 14 to Dec. 27) under Resolution No. 98.

Other LGUs that will impose travel moratoriums on LSIs are:

*Candoni, Negros Occidental (Dec. 17 – Dec. 31)

*Moises Padilla, Negros Occidental (Dec. 21 – Jan. 2)

*Valladolid, Negros Occidental (Dec. 24 – Jan. 1)

*Sipalay City, Negros Occidental (Dec. 20 – Jan. 2)

*Concepcion, Iloilo (Dec. 15 – Dec. 29)

*Barotac Nuevo, Iloilo (Dec. 15 – Jan. 2)

*San Enrique, Iloilo (Dec. 15 – Jan. 5)

*Makato, Aklan (Dec. 20 – Jan. 2)

*Murcia, Negros, Occidental (Dec. 16 – Jan. 4)

Nogra said LGUs in the region requested for the moratorium due to the overwhelmed quarantine facilities in their respective areas and the lack of personnel to manage the LSIs and the facilities.

According to Nogra, the travel moratorium will give way for the decontamination procedures and preparation for the needed supplies and materials for decontamination.

“They need the time para ma-properly manage man nila ang mga LSIs and indi mag-spike ang mga cases,” she said in a media interview on Wednesday.

Nogra said several LGUs have made the requests beforehand due to similar reasons.
Meanwhile, LGUs that sought for travel moratorium for returning Overseas Filipinos (ROFs) is not under the discretion of the RIATF but will be approved by the National Task Force Against Covid-19. (ERS)