Vegetable shipment from Northern Mindanao hampered by ECQ measures
A stevedore carries a box of tomatoes for shipment to Cebu and the Visayas region at the Bulua vegetable landing area in Cagayan de Oro on Tuesday, April 14,2020. Northern Mindanao supplies four shiploads a week to for Cebu and the Visayas but recent quarantine measures set up by various local governments against COVID-19 are causing delays. CDN Digital photo | Froilan Gallardo
Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental—Different versions of the Enhanced Community Quarantine measures implemented here in the region have caused delays in vegetable shipments to Cebu and the Visayas region.
Department of Agriculture 10 Regional Technical Director Carlota Madriaga said they have received complaints from vegetable farmers of not being able to pass through quarantine control points set up by municipal local government units and the police.
This despite that fast food lanes are set up by the agriculture department along highways to ensure the unhampered flow of basic food.
The Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) said LGUs who have set up enhanced community quarantine protocols should ensure the free movement of farmers, fishers, workers in food processing and manufacturing firms, and food supply chain logistics providers.
Madriaga said reports from the ground, however, indicated LGUs in Bukidnon are stopping trucks laden with food supplies to check on the drivers and their assistants.
Bukidnon Governor Jose Maria Zubiri imposed stricter quarantine last Monday, April 13, 2020, after a barangay official from Valencia City was tested positive of COVID-19.
Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Region 10 director Arnel Agabe said there was nothing wrong with the order of Zubiri but maintained this should be in accord with IATF protocols.
Vegetable traders complained that Bukidnon quarantine checkpoints no longer allow the reentry of their drivers and their assistants to Bukidnon after delivering supplies to Cagayan de Oro
These traders ship a total of four boatloads of vegetables a week to Cebu and Bohol.
In Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental, strict quarantine rules require all workers to secure a health permit from Cagayan de Oro.
The permit costs P225 at the Cagayan de Oro City Health office. /bmjo
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