Metro Manila (CNN Phlippines, June 28) — The secretary of National Defense says he has approved a two-week suspension of the return of some locally stranded individuals (LSI) to their provinces in a bid to stop the spread of COVID-19 to these areas.
“Negros Occidental and Iloilo plus Region 8. Bacolod and Iloilo being the main ports and seaports that receive these LSIs. For Region 8, the whole region because apart from air and water transport it also gets LSIs by land transport,” Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said on Sunday.
Lorenzana said the suspension would begin Sunday, and that it was requested by the local governments thmselves.
“We have to go this because the LSIs are the ones bringing the virus to the provinces. The data from Bacolod and Iloilo City bear this out. The LGUs asked for the suspension. We will have to come up with a better procedure to prevent this from happening,” he said.
Lorenzana advises that LSIs stay where they are for now until arrangements for them to return home are finalized.
“They should not go to the airport or seaport. We have to get the LGUs to agree to receive them. Their problem is that their quarantine facilities are limited and they don’t want to be overwhelmed,” he said.
Earlier this month, the Social Weather Stations said around 4.1 million working-age Filipinos are stranded due to community quarantines.
Presidential Management Staff Assistant Secretary Joseph Encabo has previouisly noted that there were around 13,000 LSIs in Luzon alone waiting for transport to take them to Visayas and Mindanao.
However, authorities did say they were continuously working to bring LSIs home.
