The Western Visayas Regional Inter-Agency Task Force (RIATF) is seeking permission to suspend travel between Negros and Panay for seven-days to contain the rising spread of COVID-19.
But businessmen are against the move because it will further hurt the local economy, Frank Carbon, chief executive officer of the Metro Bacolod Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said Sunday, May 16.
Thousands of people at the ports in Negros and Panay will be deprived of their sources of income, and businesses will further suffer, Carbon said.
Carbon said he does not think the national IATF will approve the request because businesses have to survive to put money in the hands of the people.
Businesses are closing faster than those that are reopening, Carbon said.
The business sector was not consulted during the RIATF meeting with the local chief executives (LCEs) of Western Visayas Saturday, May 15, he said.
The RIATF joint resolution with the Regional Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases on Saturday recommended a moratorium on travel between Negros and Panay for seven days, which needs the approval of the national IATF, Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas said.
The resolution said the LCEs present requested for a moratorium on the travel on non-essential travelers and Authorized Persons Outside of Residence, except for those APORs in the health care sector, humanitarian workers and uniformed personnel to and from Panay and Negros.
Treñas said the request of Iloilo City for the seven-day suspension of travel was joined by the province of Iloilo and concurred by Negros Occidental and all other government agencies present at the meeting Saturday.
It was unanimously approved and may be taken up by the national IATF on Monday, May 17, he said.
Treñas said he moved for the travel moratorium because of the rising number of COVID-19 cases, especially in his city.
If the request is approved it will be the national IATF that will set the dates for the moratorium but they requested that people be given time to prepare before it is enforced, he said.
Treñas said COVID-19 cases are spreading fast in Iloilo City and there have been deaths.
He also requested the DOH for more vaccines against COVID-19 and to hasten their rollout.
“I also asked for additional personnel at vaccination centers so we can open more sites,” he added.
Bacolod and Iloilo cities are regional centers that must be protected against COVID-19, he said.
Treñas is also asking the DOH for equipment and trained personnel for genome sequencing so that testing for new COVID-19 variants can be conducted in the region.*