Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas has called on members of Congress to focus on the fight against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) instead of reviving the death penalty in the country.
Alarmed by the increasing number of COVID-19, Treñas said congressmen and senators should “not get distracted on the death penalty and other matters.”
“The [main] problem at the moment which is difficult to fight is the virus, COVID-19. All other problems should be secondary,” the mayor stressed.
Specifically, Treñas wants the lawmakers to prioritize the establishmnet of more COVID-19 testing laboratories, hiring of more health personnel, procurement of more medicines, face masks, and face shields, and coming up with ways to help those people without work.
COVID-19 has so far claimed 2,294 lives out of more than 130 thousand people infected with the disease in the country.
In Iloilo City, the number of local cases stood at 287, the highest in Western Visayas. The figure includes nine deaths and 71 recoveries.
One life, according to Treñas, is “important.” “Let us all not be insentive to the death of a person.”
“One death is to much. One death is one father, one husband, one friend. We should all place our collective efforts to prevent the death of an Ilonggo, Tagalog, Negrense, etc.,” he said.IMT
Photo of Treñas by Arnold Almacen
