RIATF, RTF Endorse Bacolod Mayor’s appeal to NTF

for 2-Week Moratorium on OFWs’ Arrivals

The appeal of Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia for a two-week moratorium on the acceptance of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) and Locally Stranded Individuals (LSIs) was endorsed to the National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19 yesterday, August 7.

The Regional Inter-Agency Task Force (RIATF) Against COVID-19 and the Regional Task Force (RTF) Against COVID-19 elevated Leonardia’s appeal to the NTF.

The endorsement was signed by Western Visayas RIATF chair Juan Jovian Ingeniero, who is also the regional director of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and Western Visayas RTF chair Jose Roberto Nuñez, who is also regional director of the Office of Civil Defense-Department of National Defense (OCC-DND-6).

It was addressed to NTF chair Delfin Lorenzana, who is also the secretary of the Department of National Defense; vice chair Eduardo Año, who is also the secretary of the DILG; and Philippines Declared National Policy Against COVID-19 chief implementer Carlito Galvez Jr., who is also the secretary of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP).

The mayor has requested the National IATF to limit the flights and boat trips and for the airline and shipping companies to provide data of repatriated LSIs and OFWs to the receiving LGUs at least two days before the arrival.

“If this is approved, it will be a reprieve for our health workers and frontlines after working non-stop for months. And if we lengthen our curfew hours and strictly impose our health protocols in addition, we will have a better chance in slowing down the COVID-19 spread,” according to Leonardia.

The proposed date for the start of the moratorium is on August 8 to August 21, as per RIATF Resolution No. 28.

The proposed moratorium is anchored on the spike of the number of COVID cases in the LGUs since the arrival of returning residents, as well as the limited resources and capacity of LGUs to quarantine them.

The Department of Health (DOH) Western Visayas imposes no objection on the requests, the resolution stated.

It can be recalled that Leonardia wrote to Nuñez on August 5 requesting the RIATF’s intercession with the NIATF on the city’s request for a moratorium.

The mayor also communicated to Galvez on the same day, August 5 appealing for support on the city’s request with the Department of Education (DepED) to allow the city to continually use public schools as quarantine centers as may be needed amid the pandemic.

The mayor also appealed to Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) administrator Hans Leo Cacdac on August 3 for a moratorium.

On July 13, Leonardia addressed to Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, chair of the National IATF, and his co-chair Cabinet Secretary Karlo Alexei Nograles, the appeal for controlled number of passengers when commercial flights and sea travel resume.* (CITY PIO)