THE city governments of Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu will be requiring travelers from Negros Oriental, Negros Occidental and Bohol to secure a negative RT-PCR test or antigen test result if they plan to travel to the two cities.
Aside from these three provinces, Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Junard “Ahong” Chan said he will also require travelers from ‘NCR Plus’ to present a negative Covid test result before traveling to his city.
This as Bohol, Negros Oriental, Negros Occidental, and NCR plus continued to record a steady rise of Covid-19 cases with Bohol and Negros Oriental recording about a hundred cases daily since June 12, 2021.
NCR Plus is composed of Metro Manila and the provinces of Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal.
“Because of the rising cases in our neighboring provinces, we have to of course defend our city and province from the entry of these new variants that are now spreading in other provinces,” said Chan.
For his part, Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes released an executive order on Monday, June 14, regulating the entry of any person coming from Bohol, Negros Oriental and Negros Occidental effective 12:01 a.m. on June 15 until June 24.
In his order, Cortes said persons coming from these three provinces entering Mandaue through its ports of entry are required to provide a negative RT-PCR test result taken 72 hours before their departure from their port of origin or a negative rapid antigen test result taken 48 hours prior to departure.
Cortes said they are coordinating with the Philippine Coast Guard and the Philippine National Police for the order’s enforcement.
The two agencies are monitoring ports in Mandaue City, particularly Ouano Wharf, which has vessels coming in directly from Bohol, said Cortes.
Cortes said Mandaue City cannot afford to be complacent considering its economy and constituents have already suffered enough from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
MECQ
Earlier, President Rodrigo Duterte approved a recommendation to place more cities and provinces under the more stringent modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) from June 16 to 30.
Eight areas were added to the list of MECQ areas: Lucena City, Naga City (Camarines Sur) and Davao City; and the provinces of Bataan, Negros Oriental, Iloilo, Dinagat Islands and Surigao del Sur.
The following will remain under MECQ: Santiago City, Zamboanga City, Iloilo City, Puerto Princesa City, Cagayan de Oro City and Butuan City; and the provinces of Agusan del Sur, Zamboanga Sibugay, Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga del Norte, Cagayan, Apayao and Ifugao.
Benguet Province, which was under MECQ until June 15, will be under general community quarantine (GCQ) for the second half of June.
In the NCR Plus area, only the provinces of Rizal, Laguna and Cavite will remain under GCQ with heightened restrictions.
The National Capital Region (NCR), or Metro Manila, as well as Bulacan Province will shift to “GCQ with some restrictions.” Duterte did not specify which restrictions will remain in the NCR and Bulacan.
To remain under GCQ are Abra, Baguio City, Kalinga, Mountain Province, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino, Batangas, Quezon Province, Iligan City, Cotabato City and Lanao del Sur. Added to the list of GCQ areas from June 16 to 30 are Benguet, Davao del Norte, General Santos City, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani, Cotabato Province and South Cotabato.
The rest of the country is under modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) until June 30. (KFD, Marites Villamor-Ilano / SunStar Philippines)