Mayor Jerry Treñas on Friday, Sept. 25, said the decision to place Iloilo City again under MECQ (modified enhanced community quarantine) is for the “greater good of the people.”

The Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) approved Treñas’ request to revert the city from MGCQ (modified general community quarantine) to MECQ from Sept. 25 to Oct. 9.

“Despite the Iloilo City Government’s intensive efforts to flatten the curve of COVID-19 cases in our city, [the number of infections] continued to rise,” the mayor said.

Based on data from the Department of Health (DOH-6), the city logged a total of 2,067 indigenous or local cases of COVID-19 as of Sept. 25.

Treñas appealed to business operators in the city “for deeper understanding about the matter.”

“We cannot put everyone’s health at risk for our desire to boost the local economy. Safety should still be our priority,” he said.

“The Compliance Team is also doing its best in ensuring that everyone is safe and everyone should follow the minimum health standards and the imposed guidelines,” Treñas added.

The mayor also stressed the need for collaborative efforts “so that we can really flatten the curve and get back to the lives we all used to live.”

“I’m asking for everyone’s cooperation in implementing MECQ protocols. I understand that this is hard for many of us, but we badly need strict implementation and compliance,” he said.IMT

Photo by Arnold Almacen