Garcia: Lockdown is lockdown

CEBU, Philippines — Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia stressed yesterday to strictly limit border control exemptions to the crucial working personnel only so as not to defeat the purpose of a lockdown.

“Kung lockdown gani ta, lockdown ta. Kung daghan kayo tang exemptions, mangadyi na lang ta nga dili ni mobuto,” Garcia said.

“Moingon tingali mo overacting, 20 ra bitaw na sa Cebu City. This is the time to be overacting. Kanus-a pa man ta? Unya na og dili na nato kaya? This is the time nga atong kontrolahon nga kaya pa nato.

“Kay uroy og mag-takodtakod gikan dinhi sa dakbayan sa Sugbo, mouli ngadto sa probinsya. Ang ulian kada adlaw nga pamilya, mao to ang makighugoyhugoy sab sa mga silingan, maski ang ilang pamilya.

“That is why we have to be very strict. But apparently, wala mouyon ang Mandaue. I’ve been trying to contact Mayor Jonas (Cortes) but dili man siya ma-contact. I respect your autonomy but you are exposing the rest of Mandaue to risks.”

Garcia added: “Do not insist that life is normal because it no longer is.”

She reiterated her call to bakeshops in Cebu City to provide accommodations for their workers so they would stay in the city and need not have to return to their homes in the province for the time being.

She then thanked call centers that have provided hotel accommodations for their workers in the city.

Last night, Garcia issued Executive Order 5-O-1, adding exemptions to the border closure, which now include workers of bakeries, restaurants, fast-food chains, and pizza chains. Also exempted are those working in grocery stores, supermarkets, drugstores, pharmacies, and funeral services.

Earlier in the day, Garcia emphasized that Cebu City, with 20 confirmed cases, has become the epicenter of COVID-19 in the province.

This, she said, is the primary reason why the mayors of the province, including Cortes, have agreed to prevent the entry of anyone from Cebu City to the province during the entire quarantine period.

Reciprocity Agreement

However, Cortes, along with Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Ahong Chan and Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella, signed a reciprocity agreement last March 30 which serves to adopt each other’s exemptions on the border lockdown.

This includes an additional 13 items from the 24 exemptions already provided by Garcia’s Executive Order No. 5-O or the guidelines and protocols of the enhanced community quarantine.

Farmers, food chain staff and crew, and public market vendors, among others, are now allowed to enter the province via Mandaue border from Cebu City.

Garcia said that while she respects the local autonomy of the three cities, she pointed out that the mayors were present during the crafting of the guidelines and did not raise any objection.

She also added that if the continuous food chain was the issue, goods could still be delivered via cargo trucks without allowing in additional personnel.

“That's up to them. I’m just saying, what we had implemented, he (Cortes) was here. He did not object. And if pagbalik niya daghan objections, he could have called me anytime,” Garcia said.

She said she tried to contact Cortes but did not get response from the latter.

Cortes had earlier explained that the concessions were made following complaints by residents affected by the closure of borders.

Under the present setup, residents from both local government units, Cebu City and Cebu province, can no longer cross to the other.

Mandaue, although a highly urbanized city, is still under the jurisdiction of the Cebu provincial government. Currently, the province only has two independent charter cities, which are Lapu-Lapu and Cebu.  JMD (FREEMAN)