ILOILO – Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr. plans to extend the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) being observed in the province but with modifications. Business establishments may be allowed to reopen except for those where social distancing would be difficult to observe, he said.
The ECQ started on March 20. It was originally intended to last until April 14 but this was extended up to April 30.
Defensor said yesterday he was finalizing an executive order on a two-week modified ECQ, from May 1 to 15.
“The enhanced community quarantine is the most effective quarantine measure against something like this (coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic),” said Defensor.
As of yesterday, April 23, Iloilo province has 18 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with four deaths.
But an ECQ should not be observed longer than is necessary or the economy will suffer, said Defensor.
Under the current ECQ, home quarantine is strictly being enforced. Public transport is suspended. Business establishments are closed except those dealing with essentials (food, health and utilities) such as public markets, grocery stores, pharmacies, banks, gas stations, hospitals, and food deliveries.
Beginning May 1, according to Defensor, business establishments would be allowed to resume operations except for those where social distancing would be difficult to carry out.
The governor also said public transport may be allowed to re-operate. He, however, acknowledged the difficulty of ensuring that social distancing would be observed in this sector.
Travel restrictions, however, would remain, said Defensor, and provincial border checkpoints would continue.
Who would be allowed to travel?
Healthcare workers, those who have to do errands for essentials (food, health, utilities), those engaged in the delivery of goods, and those working in establishments that would be allowed to resume operations, said Defensor.
For this modified quarantine measures, a modified ECQ pass will also be issued, added the governor.
Defensor would be consulting with mayors before finalizing his executive order on a modified ECQ. So there would likely be more details to include in this tweaked quarantine, he said.
Defensor also clarified the upcoming executive order is not an “exit plan” from the ECQ but a gradual transition in quarantine measures.
Defensor’s Iloilo City counterpart Mayor Jerry Treñas hopes to start gradually easing ECQ measures by May 1, too.
“This situation is new to us all. We have no experience in this regard so we need all the help we can get from the experts,” he said.
Treñas thus welcomed the inputs of professors from the University of the Philippines Visayas (UPV).
“Iloilo City should consider prepping for a phased reopening, and scaling back of the local government unit’s (LGU) support for the economy. The phased reopening is a strategy that will protect the people from the (corona)virus while allowing life to progressively return to normal, albeit a ‘new normal’,” according to professors Maria Elisa Baliao, Rhodella Ibabao, Hanny John Mediodia, Cristabel Parcon, Juhn Cris Espia, and Vicente Balinas.
Treñas said there would still be restrictions on public transport, school classes and religious gatherings, among others while quarantine rules and regulations are lifted in stages or phases.
“Ang akon lang ginapangayo kooperasyon because we have to open already. Naluoy ako sa mga pumoluyo ta nga waay trabaho,” said Treñas./PN
