DFA begs Gwen to let foreigners from other provinces enter Cebu to board repatriation flights

CEBU CITY, Philippines — To “spare” the country’s tourism industry from a “justified retaliation” in the future, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. is “begging” the provincial government of Cebu to allow foreign nationals to enter the province and board their repatriation flights via the Mactan Cebu International Airport.

Locsin, in a series of tweets on Wednesday, April 1, 2020, said Cebu is “making it hard for evacuees to enter its airport.”

I am trying to spare Philippine tourism from a justified retaliation in the future. I am also asking our local officials to put themselves in the shoes/rubber slippers of foreign tourists stuck here for the duration—out in the open with their kids or price-gouged in hotels. https://t.co/yhm9EITzrJ

— Teddy Locsin Jr. (@teddyboylocsin) April 1, 2020

Governor Gwendolyn Garcia has earlier called out the MCIA Authority and the Department of Tourism in Central Visayas (DOT-7) for facilitating the entry of foreign national in the province despite her orders to ban the entry of those coming from other provinces.

Read: Cebu to ban entry of passengers from outside province

Garcia has also ordered the stoppage of the entry of all international and domestic passengers as the province eased into its enhanced community quarantine amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) situation here.

Read: Gwen questions MCIAA for allowing Cebu to be ‘receptacle’ of foreigners due for repatriation

Read: Gov. Garcia appeals to DOT to stop letting foreigners in amid Covid threat

“LAST GERMAN FLIGHT OUT planned for this weekend to take last tourists stranded in Palawan, Siargao, Dumaguete, Iloilo, Bohol, Caticlan, Surigao, Tacloban, Mindanao & Bacolod to Cebu and Manila. Cebu makes it hard for evacuees to enter its airport,” Locsin said in a tweet.

“On my knees, I beg Cebu, please,” the top diplomat added.

Locsin said that although there is a resolution from the Interagency Task Force (IATF) that overrides the policies of the local government units such as that of Cebu, the resolution may have “rubbed LGUs the wrong way.”

“Best way is to massage them into helping get the foreigners out for the sake of the future of Phil tourism,” Locsin said.

He also urged local chief executives to “put themselves in the shoes/rubber slippers of foreign tourists stuck here for the duration—out in the open with their kids or price-gouged in hotels.” / dcb