TACLOBAN CITY - The province of Leyte will not accept locally stranded individuals (LSIs) until the end of December, a report from the office of the Leyte provincial governor said on Tuesday.
Leyte Governor Leopoldo Dominico "Mic" L. Petilla told the Manila Bulletin that the Regional Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Disease (RIATF8) and the Regional Task Force on COVID-19 (RTF8), in Joint Resolution No. 42 dated November 25, 2020, approved the request of Leyte province for the moratorium on the return of LSIs to Leyte.
The resolution, signed by Dr. Director Exuperia Sabalberino, officer-in-charge of the DOH-8, Regional Director Lord Byron Torrecarion of the Office of Civil Defense, and Regional Director Karl Ceasar Rimando of the Department of Interior and Local Government, states: “It is hereby resolved to approve the request of the Province of Leyte for a moratorium on the entry of LSIs to the province from December 15 to December 31, 2020.”
The resolution also said that the request was approved “in consideration of the LGUs (local government units) COVID-19 situation including its absorptive capacity so as to ensure that the quarantine facilities are not overwhelmed and that each LSI is given proper accommodation and attention.”
The resolution also stated that the “movements of the returning or repatriated Overseas Filipino Workers who are transported through the efforts of the national government shall be permitted in compliance with the Interzonal and Intrazonal movement guidelines contained in IATF Resolution No. 79 and the Omnibus guidelines.”
The resolution added that “the Province of Leyte shall ensure that all persons, companies, offices, and agencies which are likely to be affected by this moratorium are given due notice and informed of the moratorium.”
The Leyte provincial IATF meeting presided over by Vice Governor Carlo Loreto last November 13 had requested the RIATF and the RTF for a one-month moratorium for the acceptance of the LSIs to the province.
Petilla explained that the moratorium will allow a break for disinfections, sanitation, and cleaning of the isolation and quarantine facilities of the province and municipalities. He added that it will give much-needed rest to the personnel who had been manning the facilities for several months.