Mayor Jerry Treñas on Wednesday, April 1, said the Iloilo City Government is exhausting all efforts to surmount the effects of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis.

In a press conference, Treñas thanked all those who extended their helping hands to frontliners and residents affected by the city-wide lockdown.

“Daku guid ang bulig sa aton sang private sector. Nasubuan lang ako sa aton national government agencies nga daw kabudlay guid subong nga pahulagon,” he said.

The mayor was disappointed by how the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Department of Health (DOH), and Department of Education (DepEd) are using their resources to help local government units (LGUs) combat COVID-19.

“Ang resources nga ginauyatan ni nila masyado guid kadako komparar sa LGUs. Kon indi na nila pagbuy-an kag ibulig sa tawo, mabudlayan guid kita tanan,” he said.

Treñas lamented the meager budget allotted by the DSWD for Western Visayas.

“Ang ila pondo for food assistance is only P6 million for the whole region. I do not know what will happen to us,” Treñas.

“Sa tanan nga LGUs, we better fend for ourselves if the national government will not be able to help us. Sa subong, ang tanan nga LGU matindog guid on their own. We have to partner with the private sector kag kita na lang magbinuligay kay kon maghulat sa national government agencies daw kabudlay guid,” he said.

According to the DSWD-6, it has already released two thousand food packs for Iloilo City.

Treñas was also irked by the requirements set by DepEd for the use of public schools as isolation centers for patients under investigation (PUIs) and persons under monitoring (PUMs).

“Ang ining DepEd ginarequire nila nga may MOA (memorandum of agreement) guid kita. Ginapaudlayan kita sang DepEd. Nga-a paubrahon pa kita sang MOA nga ina nga subong kadako sang problema ta. Ano ni ya sila man?”

The city government decided to transfer its isolation center from Iloilo Central Elementary School to Diamond Jubilee Hall.

Treñas also reiterated his call for the health department to “aggressively test” all persons suspected of having COVID-19 in the region.

“We have the accredited laboratory, the duly trained medical technologists, and the issue on positive patients. Let us now test aggressively,” he said.IMT

Photo of Treñas by Arnold Almacen