4 Negros LGUs open borders

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines — Four adjacent towns on Negros Island have opened their borders to each other after the number of their COVID cases declined.

Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson yesterday confirmed that the cities of San Carlos and Kabankalan opened their borders to the municipalities of Vallehermoso and Mabinay, both located in Negros Oriental.

Mabinay and Vallehermoso reported zero COVID cases.

Vallehermoso shares boundaries with San Carlos City in Negros Occidental.

Mabinay is situated in central Negros, which is bounded by Kabankalan City in the west.

Lacson said that only Mabinay residents are allowed to enter and stay for 24 hours in Kabankalan as ordered by Mayor Pedro Zayco.

Mabinay residents depend for their needs on Kabankalan, especially in transacting with banks and pharmacies.

San Carlos has been allowing residents from Vallehermoso to come and go for several months now. It had 15 COVID cases as of Sunday, according to the provincial incident management team.

Kabankalan recorded only two active cases.