All passengers arriving at the Mactan Cebu International airport are required to fill up the health declaration checklist. CDN Digital | Morexette Marie B. Erram
CEBU CITY, Philippines—There will be more police officers at the Mactan Cebu International Airport (MCIA) to assist airport authorities in the quarantine of returning Filipinos from China and Taiwan.
Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7) director, Police Brigadier General Albert Ignatius Ferro, announced they will deploy at least 30 police personnel at the airport.
“We will be deploying personnel from our QRT (quick response team) and at least 12 from our RMFC (Regional Mobile Force Company),” he said.
Ferro confirmed they received information that the MCIA Authority asked help from the police to enforce quarantine measures on returning Filipino passengers.
On Wednesday, February 12, 2020, MCIAA said at least 78 Filipinos from Taiwan reportedly refused to undergo quarantine.
This developed after the Philippine government included Taiwan on Tuesday morning in its travel ban to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) – a move slammed by the Taiwanese government.
The government here included Taiwan on its travel restrictions to the whole of China, insisting it was due to ‘health considerations’ against claims from Taiwanese government that the decision was ‘political’.
The Philippines honor the One China policy that classifies Taiwan, a self-ruled island carrying the name of Republic of China, a province of Beijing-led People’s Republic of China. /bmjo