BACOLOD City Councilor Simple Distrito lauded the decision of Mayor Evelio Leonardia and Mayor Jerry Trenas to resume trips between Iloilo and Bacolod.
“It is high time to resume sea travels as soon as possible between Bacolod and Iloilo in order to reactivate and spur economic activities between the two cities,” Distrito said.
She said there are a lot of stranded Bacolodnons in Iloilo that look forward to returning to Bacolod, the same way that Iloilo and Panay residents were stranded in Bacolod and needed to return to Panay.
“The resumption of trips should be with strict adherence to health protocols and safety and health measures to prevent transmission of coronavirus disease (Covid-19),” Distrito added.
Distrito said the City of Bacolod and Iloilo City were recently categorized under general community quarantine by the National Inter-agency Task Force for Emerging Infectious Diseases (NIATF-EID) and the declaration of general community quarantine (GCQ) resulted from the gradual lowering of the rate of positive cases in both cities.
“Sea travel between Bacolod and Iloilo were suspended for months already and affected individuals who are working and residing in either city. Reopening the same will be very helpful to those people who were stranded for a very long time. The act of reopening sea travel will once again ignite the economies of both local government units, particularly, ship and fastcraft operators who were severely affected by the suspension,” Distrito said.
On October 15, Leonardia issued Executive Order No. 67, allowing the travel and entry into Bacolod City passengers/commuters entering through Bacolod seaports or arriving initially at the Bacolod-Silay Airport while Bacolod City is under general community quarantine from October 1 to 31. (MAP)