Quarantine pass policy in Cebu City to stay during Sinulog

CEBU, Philippines —  Cebu City is not inclined to suspending the quarantine passes’ effectivity during the Sinulog festivities later this month.

“I will not suspend. I will continue with the observance of the quarantine pass,” said Mayor Edgardo Labella.

“It was only during the Misa de Gallo, but insofar as the Sinulog celebration is concerned, no suspension of the quarantine pass because I believe that having controls in the number of people and the number of people that converge in one area really has been very helpful in flattening the curve,” he added.

Labella said those who wish to attend the nine-day novena mass, but cannot physically attend, can still watch it online.

He said Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma has also encouraged the faithful to hear masses online.

“That has been pronounced by the Archbishop during our meeting. In fact, during the Misa de Gallo, the good Archbishop also encouraged people to attend the mass online,” said Labella.

Labella said the implementation of the Q Pass policy is a way of regulating the number of people converging outside homes.

“Some local governments consulted me and asked me, and I told them one of the things that we really did (that) was somehow relatively effective was to divide the number of people by issuing this quarantine pass,” he said.

The Q pass policy requires that codes ending with odd numbers (1,3,5,7,9) are allowed to go out during Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, while those ending with even numbers (2,4,6,8,0) can go out on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.

On Sundays, all Q pass holders can go out, regardless of the last number of their codes.

Labella said strict implementation of the health protocols should be enforced during the Sinulog celebration.

City officials earlier said that even with the continuing threat of COVID-19, everything is in place for an “unorthodox, unconventional, and innovative” Sinulog 2021 this month.

“Everything is already in place,” said Vice Mayor Michael Rama last Wednesday, the day after the city released the official list of activities for the event.

Data from the Department of Health in Central Visayas showed that Cebu City recorded 11 new COVID-19 cases on January 1, bringing the total active cases in the city to 128. — JMD (FREEMAN)