ILOILO – At 10 a.m. today the ship transporting 110 Ilonggos stranded in Palawan due to the community quarantine would be docking at the wharf in Lapuz, Iloilo City.
The ship left Palawan Wednesday afternoon.
According to Gilbert Marin, chief of the Iloilo Provincial Tourism Office and the provincial government’s focal person for returning stranded domestic tourists, 70 percent of these returning Ilonggos were domestic tourists and the rest were workers.
“First batch pa lang ini. May second batch pa from Palawan. Siguro next week sila maabot,” he added.
The 110 Ilonggos would be fetched at the wharf by their respective local government units (LGUs). They would be subjected to 14 days of home quarantine.
Their health would be constantly monitored by their LGUs, Marin said.
“Wala na sila naton gin-require sang RT-PCR (reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction) test for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19),” added Marin, because the Ilonggos came from an area that, like Iloilo province, is also under a general community quarantine (GCQ).
In Memorandum Order No. 21, Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr. laid down the requirements for the re-entry of Ilonggos from GCQ areas. These were the following:
* certification of acceptance, undertaking of the LGU destination that it would accept the returnee and subject the latter to quarantine at a common quarantine facility (not home quarantine)
* certification from the local health unit of the place of origin that the returnee has undergone a 14-day quarantine and does not exhibit signs and symptoms of COVID-19 infection
* certification from the governor allowing entry to Iloilo
Marin said the 110 Ilonggos have complied with all of these.
For Ilonggos from areas under an enhanced community quarantine, the three GCQ requirements must also be met, plus a negative result of their RT-PCR test./PN
