A Tagbilaran City official is not in favor of the Bohol League of Municipalities’ (LMP) plan to revive the proposed home quarantine of returning locally stranded individuals (LSI) and overseas Filipino workers (OFW).
Tagbilaran City Administrator Cathy Torremocha told the Chronicle on Wednesday it would be difficult to keep track of LSIs and OFWs if they are allowed to undergo self-quarantine in their homes and to make sure that they do not break protocols.
“How sure are we na di na mogawas? Lisod g’yud ang home quarantine,” Torremocha said.
Home quarantine for LSIs and OFWs is seen to be a risk for spreading the virus in the city which has been deemed free of COVID-19 infections for almost a month.
Torremocha said the move could lead to new infections and eventually the renewed tightening of quarantine measures.
“Motan-aw pud ta sa atong mga silingan na mga probinsya unsa to ilang mga experiences, nagkaanam og saka [ang cases], unya nag-lockdown, di na pud ta ganahan na mo balil sa ngana, mausik ang atong efforts,” she added.
The city official also noted that some of those who claim to be LSIs are not really “stranded” or displaced due to the pandemic.
Some of the arriving residents are just going home for a vacation during the holidays.
“Kasagaran anang manguliay karon dili nana mga LSI. Mo uli ra na sila for vacation unya mo balik ra pud so dili na sila ang locally stranded individuals g’yud na wa na silay trabaho didto maong kinahanglan sila mo uli sa atoa,” she said.
At the onset in the implementation of community quarantine across the country, LSIs were loosely described as students or employees from Bohol who have lost their jobs in urban centers such as Metro Cebu and Metro Manila and other provinces.
However, Torremocha said that if the proposal is approved, it would be up to the city’s Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) to determine if it will adopt the measure.
The proposal is set to be tackled by the LMP on Friday. If it gains the favor of the mayors, it will still need the approval of the Bohol-IATF chaired by Governor Art Yap.
LMP president Mayor Miriam Sumaylo of Dauis meanwhile has assured that their proposal for home quarantine includes strict provisions including three options.
LSIs or OFWs may undergo home quarantine in their houses in which no one else resides.
They may also choose to quarantine themselves in houses where they have their own rooms if they were able to secure a negative PCR test result 72 hours prior to their arrival.
The last option is for them to have their swab samples taken while undergoing facility or hotel quarantine. If they yield negative results, they may continue their quarantine at home. (A. Doydora)