Iloilo City, 3 provinces set strict border control

Jerry Treñas —JERRY P. TREÑAS FACEBOOK

ILOILO CITY, Iloilo, Philippines — Iloilo City and the provinces of Iloilo, Capiz, and Antique have instituted border restrictions until the end of the month after the provincial capital was placed under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ).

Iloilo Mayor Jerry Treñas on Monday ordered borders of the city closed except for essential travel due to the rising COVID-19 cases in other provinces.

Treñas said many returning residents, authorized persons outside of residence, and returning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) from Metro Manila and Cebu province had tested positive for the virus.

“Considering that our detection for the (COVID-19) Delta variant is extremely slow, we will have to require them to isolate themselves until they have negative (reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction) test results,” Treñas said in a statement.

The city also imposed border controls with its neighboring provinces in Western Visayas.

Only authorized persons, employees of business process outsourcing companies and export-oriented firms, and those operating businesses in the city are allowed.

Restricted travel

In an executive order issued on Tuesday, Iloilo Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr. restricted inbound travel of nonresidents to the province.

Authorized persons, returning residents, and OFWs are subject to quarantine and COVID-19 tests and protocols. Residents of Iloilo City and Guimaras province are also allowed in the province while those from other neighboring provinces need to comply with mandatory quarantine and other health protocols.

Antique also imposed travel restrictions against nonessential travel to and from the province.

Capiz has imposed controls in all its provincial boundaries allowing only those on essential travel and medical purposes, government officials and employees on official travel, workers in private businesses, among others.

Presence of variant

The city and province of Iloilo have been placed under the most restrictive ECQ from July 16 to July 31 following the confirmation of two Delta variant-infected persons in Antique in May.

One of the infected persons died while the other has recovered.

The decision to put the city and province of Iloilo under ECQ drew protests from residents and officials because the local COVID-19 situation, they said, had improved.

Treñas earlier described as “unjustified and unfair” the decision of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases to impose the ECQ status, which came after the local government and business owners raised concerns over its economic impact.