LPP seeks wider prerogative in quarantine classification

THE League of Provinces of the Philippines (LPP) has called on the Inter-agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) to give local government units (LGUS) a wider “leeway” in determining community quarantine levels in their localities to address the lingering Covid-19 pandemic.

“Local government units should have sufficient leeway and flexibility in classifying the community quarantine status of their respective jurisdictions,” League of Provinces of the Philippines National President and Marinduque Gov. Presbitero J. Velasco said in a news statement issued on Thursday.

The LPP has written, through Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III and Cabinet Secretary Karlo Alexei Nograles, reiterating its proposal to allow LGUS to determine the appropriate community quarantine classification they need to implement to immediately address a sudden surge in Covid-19 cases.

“A matter of exigency such as this must be dealt with by the LGUS having the direct and first-hand knowledge of the situation,” Velasco explained.

The reclassification by LGUS, he said, will still be in accordance with the parameters and standards set by the IATF, while leaving to the IATF the national classification of the community quarantine for each province and highly-urbanized and independent component city that is being done on a fortnightly basis.

“The flexibility we are requesting is in situations where there are sudden surges in cases in a particular province, and there is an immediate need to regulate and even tighten the movement of people in and out of the area to arrest further transmission of Covid-19 infections, most especially the Delta variant,” Velasco said.

In cases of sudden surges of cases, the LGUS need to ensure the safety and protection of their constituents and take immediate action by escalating the prevailing community quarantine, he explained.

Velasco underscored, however, that the league has also proposed that in such situations, all actions of community quarantine reclassification done by LGUS will be immediately reported to the Regional Inter-agency Task Force (RIATF) and the IATF within 24 hours.

If deemed necessary, the IATF may rectify the community quarantine classification and immediately inform the concerned LGU of the same, he added.