DILG XII has warned residents through its social media site and the radio about the stricter measures being implemented in the Region XII as a region-wide curfew was implemented on the March 23, 2020.
In a radio interview with RD Josephine Cabrido-Leysa, CESO III, those with non-essential trips are ‘better off staying at home than go through the inconvenience at border crossings within the Region’. According to Director Leysa, more stringent checks are being done who cross from one region to another or travel between two border towns of different provinces.
The Provincial Government of South Cotabato has earlier ordered a clampdown on the number of travelers passing through its highways in between towns amid the ‘community quarantine’ which was implemented in Davao Region (Region XI) last March 18. Only residents of the province were allowed entry into South Cotabato, along with the supplies like food and vegetables, fuel and LPG, among others.
Meanwhile, Director Leysa expressed relief upon learning about the latest reports from DILG’s Operation Center (Covid-19 OpCen) showing a single case as of March 23 in the afternoon despite the two PUIs listed earlier. “We hope this trend continues. We hope to keep our Region clean and unaffected by CoVid,” said Dir. Leysa. She, however, made it clear that DILG XII considers Cotabato City as part of its jurisdiction and control while DOH, which also keeps track of the Covid-19 cases in the Region, does not include the said city. “That would explain the discrepancy between our figures and that of the DOH, “ Dir. Leysa explains.
By this time, Leysa added, we should already have the appreciation for the community quarantine. “It requires bigger sacrifice from us but we know that we will all benefit from it”, Director Leysa pointed out.
She reminded residents of Region XII about the RPOC XII and RDRRMC XII- issued Joint Resolution no. 2020-06, series of 2020, entitled “A Resolution strongly urging the local government units (LGUs) in Region XII to implement general community quarantine in their respective jurisdictions to prevent the threat of further spreading of the coronavirus disease (CoVid-19)”, which prompted other LGUs to act, especially those which have not implemented their own community quarantines. A general community quarantine is a situation where there is restriction in the movement of people, limiting them to access basic necessities and work. Meanwhile, uniformed personnel and quarantine officers man the border checkpoints to ensure the control of movement of vehicles, people and goods.
Director Leysa has also clarified that curfew hours, as set by the LGUs, will be adhered to despite the issued Joint RPOC XII and RDRRMC XII outlining the uniform curfew hour schedule. “A local ordinance on curfew shall prevail since the Joint Resolution from both councils on uniform curfew hours is recommendatory,” she added.
Earlier, a memo dated March 13, 2020 was issued by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea outlining the conditions during a community quarantine, which include, among other things, the restriction of unnecessary entry of people in the contained area especially those persons who are at high risk of being infected (those who are 60 years old and above, those who are immunocompromised or with co –morbidities and pregnant. However, health workers, authorized government officials, those traveling for humanitarian or medical reasons or persons providing basic services and public utilities and essential skeletal workforce are exempted. ##
