The Cebu City government will be distributing enhanced community quarantine passes starting March 28, 2020. | Photo Courtesy of Cebu City PIO
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Cebu City government will begin distributing the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) cards to its constituents on Saturday, March 28, 2020, the same day that the ECQ or lockdown in the city starts at 12 noon.
Councilor Raymond Alvin Garcia, the council’s majority floor leader, announced the guidelines of the ECQ passes, the persons who will be granted the passes, and how these will be granted.
The passes will be issued solely by the city government but its distribution can be delegated to the barangays, the police, and other duly authorized persons or agencies.
The passes will have uniformed design and color-coded according to its type. Cebu City residents will get one green ECQ pass per household, while non-residents who need to enter the city will have blue ECQ passes each person.
Government officials and their employees will get the red ECQ passes, while crisis management responders will get the white ECQ passes.
Of all the passes, only the green passes will be delivered to the household. The barangays or police will ask the household to fill up some details for its issuance.
One household, one apartment or condominium unit, and one boarding house room gets one pass each.
“Whether voter or non-voter, they will still fall under residents,” said Garcia.
The rest of the colored passes will need a formal request to the Office of the Mayor through electronic mail (ccg.ecqpass@gmail.com.). These passes will need the evaluation of the city government before being released.
“We ask the public to be patient. Give us five days to deliver the ECQ passes. But do not get confused, the enhanced community quarantine will be implemented on Saturday noon. The enforcement of the passes will be on April 1,” said the councilor.
The councilor warned the public that only one person per household can go out by Saturday noon. In simpler terms, he said a person should not be caught with a companion.
Exemptions to using the ECQ passes include
- Medical practitioners, hospital staff, nurses, health volunteers
- Emergency personnel
- All authorized national and local government officials or employees
- Drivers and personnel of delivery cargoes
- Construction workers duly authorized by the City government
- Accredited media personnel
- Persons who need medical attention already admitted to any medical facility and one companion
- Employees of exempted establishments from the quarantine (such as BPO and KPO firms, markets, supermarkets, grocery stores, convenient stores banks, money transfer, food shops or fast food restaurants)
- Farmers, fishermen, and agri-business personnel
- Such other persons as may be duly authorized by the Office of the Mayor
Garcia said that exempted individuals can show their identification cards proving that they are part of the exemption for the ECQ. They will be allowed mobility during the quarantine period.
Due to the lack of public transportation, the city will be deploying 40 buses for free transportation all around the city to bring people to the market, to work, or to medical facilities.
Garcia urged the public to avoid crossing borders especially for residents living along borders of the city from the north to Mandaue City and from the south to Talisay City.
He said the city will not honor ECQ passes of residents from other cities unless they belong to exemptions.
As for households with only senior citizens in it, the barangays should ensure that they are taken care of, and assign some sort of guardian for them because they cannot leave their homes.
For the first five days, the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO), said they will be lenient while information dissemination is being done and while passes are being distributed.
CCPO Director, Police Colonel Hector Grijaldo, said that they will give at least three chances for the residents before finally apprehending them.
However, he urged the public to follow the lockdown guidelines so they will not put themselves and other people in threat of spreading the virus. /rcg