LTO-7 chief reminds public: ‘Quarantine is for all’

Heavy traffic is still seen along Natalio Bacalso Avenue in Cebu City on April 18, 2020, while the city is under the state of enhanced community quarantine due to the coronavirus disease 2019 crisis. | Gerard Vincent Francisco

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Land Transportation Office Central Visayas Regional (LTO-7)  Director Victor Caindec reiterated that quarantine is meant for everyone, regardless of social status.

This he said following sightings of several private vehicles on the streets in Cebu City in the past week, despite the ongoing enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

“Ang quarantine para sa tanan. Ang nahitabo kung pobre, dili maka gawas kay walay public transport, gibawal pa gyud angkas. Apan kung datu, adunay sakyanan, yano ra maka gawas,” Caindec said in a Facebook post on Sunday evening, April 19.

(The quarantine is for everyone. But what’s happening is that the poor could not go out because there is no public transport and backriding is prohibited. But for the rich, who have vehicles, they easily go out.)

Caindec said the checkpoints installed by their agency was to make the quarantine circumstances “fair” regardless of social status.

“Na-traffic kuno sila sa among checkpoint. Ang POBRE, unsaon [og] ka traffic nga di man gani maka gawas[?] Unsa man diay ang balaod, di ba para sa tanan?” Caindec said.

(They said they were caught in a traffic jam because of our checkpoints. The poor, however, could not be caught in traffic because they can’t go out. Isn’t the law meant for everyone?)

Caindec reminded the public that COVID-19 does not discriminate its victims regardless of social status and appealed for everyone to cooperate with the quarantine protocols and help stop the spread of the virus for the sake of those who are gravely affected by the effects of the ECQ.

“Kamo nga no-work no-pay nga nag antos sa sardinas kay wa nay lain ma abli, malipay mo nga ma extend na pud ni? Magtinabangay na intawn ta. Tabla tanan ani, pero mas dugay gutomon ang adunahan kaysa pobre,” Caindec added.

(To those who are now suffering from no-work, no-pay and make do with canned sardines, will you be happy if the ECQ will be extended? Let us help each other. We are all suffering but the rich can survive without starving longer than the poor.) /bmjo