TACLOBAN CITY – Mayor Alfred Romualdez will welcome residents of this city who are returning home under the government’s Balik Probinsya program.
In an interview, Romualdez said these people should not be deprived of their right to return home despite fears that they may become carriers of the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
“They should not be barred from returning home. It is their constitutional right to return home. Will you not allow your loved ones to return home?” the mayor said.
COVID-19 cases in Eastern Visayas, particularly Leyte, increased after several Leytehanons, including local overseas workers, returned home under the Balik Probinsiya program.
As of June 8, there are 17 COVID-19 cases in Leyte.
In Tacloban City, two of its COVID-19 cases involved returning overseas workers.
Romualdez said the government is doing its best to ensure that the coronavirus will not spread.
One policy to contain the virus, he said, include isolating returning individuals in facilities put up by the local government units.
The city government here has put up its isolation center located in the northern part of the city, which was initially built as an evacuation center.