MANILA – Western Visayas is not being left out by the national governments, Malacañang said on Tuesday.
According to Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, President Rodrigo Duterte has already ordered to prioritize areas with increasing cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) like Region 6 for vaccine distribution.
“Sang-ayon na rin po sa kagustuhan ng ating Presidente, iyong mga lugar po na tumataas ang kaso, mabibigyan po sila ng mas maraming alokasyon para sa mga bakuna,” Roque said in yesterday’s virtual presser.
“Pero ang pagkalat ng sakit, hindi naman dahil sa kawalan ng bakuna kundi dahil bumaba ang compliance with minimum public health protocols,” the Palace spokesperson added.
Iloilo City’s Mayor Jerry Treñas said in a radio interview on Sunday that Western Visayas felt “left out” by the national government.
According to Treñas, in his city only two percent of the targeted 450,000 population have received two doses of COVID-19 vaccines due to the limited supply of vaccines.
He urged the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases to look into the real COVID-19 situation in Western Visayas.
Treñas also called on the Department of Health (DOH) to act with urgency by sending aid such as hospital personnel, ventilators and COVID-19 vaccines.
COVID-19 testing czar Vivencio Dizon, meanwhile, said additional testing kits and antigen test are set to be distributed to Western Visayas, one of the epicenters of the coronavirus.
“In touch po tayo kay Mayor Jerry Treñas ng Iloilo (City). Lahat po na kayang ibigay ng national government in terms of support, kasama na po diyan ang mga dagdag na bakuna, ay ibinibigay po natin, kasama na rin po ng iba pang mga kailangan nila para labanan itong current surge,” Dizon said.
Based on the latest quarantine classification, Iloilo province shifted into modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) after almost a year of being under the modified general community quarantine (MGCQ).
Iloilo City also remained under MECQ until the end of the month, while the rest of Western Visayas is still under MGCQ. The region is also being closely monitored by the IATF-EID./PN
