Non-essential travel to and from Western Visayas is temporarily suspended to contain the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

In an advisory released on Tuesday, March 23, the Regional Task Force (RTF) and the Regional Inter-Agency Task Force (RIATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases said they “adopted the provisions of National IATF Resolution No. 104.”

Based on the advisory, “returning residents of Western Visayas” and “inbound individuals” from the National Capital Region (NCR) its travel bubble circuit that includes Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal are “temporarily restricted” to go in and out of the region from March 23 until April 4, 2021.

“Only essential travelers shall be allowed to travel into and outside of Western Visayas,” the advisory stated.

The essential travelers include health and emergency frontline services personnel, government officials and government frontline personnel, duly-authorized humanitarian assistance actors, persons traveling for medical or humanitarian reasons, persons going to the airport for travel abroad, anyone crossing zones for work or business and going back home, and returning overseas Filipinos (ROFs) and overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

A few hours after the advisory was released, Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas issued a statement claiming that the entire Western Visayas “has been placed under lockdown.”

“I don’t know if any of the LCEs (local chief executives) have been consulted about this. Another kapalpakan. I demand that the Regional IATF consult the LCEs. In behalf of Iloilo City, I am demanding an explanation form the Regional IATF,” said Treñas.

“In behalf of the city government of Iloilo we do not recognize the lockdown made by the Regional IATF. They have no authority to place the whole region in lockdown. Only the duly elected government can do it. This is tantamount to an economic sabotage and is totally illegal.”

This prompted the RTF and RIATF to issue an official statement clarifying that they “did not declare a lockdown in the entire Western Visayas”

“This is to clarify and reiterate that our advisory released earlier merely adopted the provisions of National IATF Resolution No. 104, dated March 20, 2021, wherein only ‘essential travelers’ from NCR, and its travel bubble circuit that includes Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal, shall be allowed to travel into and outside of Western Visayas from March 23 to April 4, 2021,” the official statement read.

According to the RTF and RIATF “all other travelers not coming from the subject areas are allowed to enter Region 6, subject to LGU’s health protocols and travel requirements.”

“All flights and sea vessel trips in the region are currently in normal operations to cater the essential travelers and returning residents from areas which are not covered in the national IATF Resolution 104,” they said.

The official statement also “advised the public to refrain from spreading unverified information. Further, we appeal to everyone to continuously adhere to health and safety protocols.”

It was signed by DILG-6 Director Juan Jovian E. Ingeniero, RIATF chairman and OCD-6 Director Jose Roberto Nuñez, RTF chairman.

Meanwhile, Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor Jr. said they were not consulted about the restrictions on outbound travelers or those who will be going out of the region.

The confusion, according to Defensor, could have been avoided if there was a proper coordination with the LCEs.IMT