Roxas City wants to extend MECQ status

By Felipe V. Celino 

ROXAS CITY, Capiz – Mayor Ronnie Dadivas wants to prolong the Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ) status of Roxas City by another 15 days as COVID-19 cases continue to surge.

The city is under MECQ from June 1-15, 2021.

The mayor said that he will request the Regional Inter-Agency Task Force (RIATF) for the extension. The request will no longer require approval by the national task force since Roxas City is a component city of Capiz.

Governor Esteban Evan Nonoy Contreras said he will endorse Dadivas’ request to the RIATF because of the high average daily attack rate and health care utilization.

Contreras hopes that the continued imposition of the stricter MECQ will mitigate the cases.

Meanwhile, majority of the municipal mayors of Capiz are not in favor to put the entire province under MECQ status.

Earlier, Mambusao Mayor Leodegario Labao Jr., who is also president of the League of the Municipalities of the Philippines Capiz chapter, urged fellow mayors to support his move to place Capiz under MECQ.

But the appeal got negative response from other mayors.

Contreras said other towns have minimal cases that are easily contained.

He said they will need more funds to support residents who will be affected by lockdowns and closure of some businesses.

Each local government unit has initiated ways to contain the spread of the virus in their areas of responsibilities, he added.