Cebu province starts planning for new normal

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Cebu provincial government has started brewing plans for health, transportation, and business guidelines should the province transition to general community quarantine after May 15, 2020.

On Tuesday, May 5, 202o, the Cebu province’s Task Force New Normal convened at the Capitol to kick off the discussion for the policies and direction that the province will take once it shifts from enhanced community quarantine to general community quarantine.

READ: After May 15, what ‘new normal’ awaits Cebu?

Task Force New Normal, which Governor Gwendolyn Garcia chairs, is composed of representatives from the business sector, and government agencies concerned in health, agriculture, labor, trade and industry, and the transportation and tourism sectors.

This afternoon, Garcia said the members of the task force have already formed subcommittees to formulate plans which will serve as bases for the executive order which will define the policies under the GCQ and the subsequent “new normal.”

“[We divided] into subcommittees ang mga collaborating agencies as well as the sectors, business groups, aron sila maka-come up og plan which addresses a particular function or concern,” Garcia said.

Garcia earlier announced that among the directions that the province will take will be the development of the countryside and providing job opportunities outside the metropolis.

A farmer checks on his rice plants on his farm in Cebu in this 2018 photo. | CDN file photo

“As we collate all of these, we will be able to come up with an executive order which will define our new normal which we hope we will be able to start after, or should the ECQ be lifted after the 15th of May,” the governor added.

“We are optimistic. We are hopeful that we will be able to transition from ECQ to GCQ… Ayaw mo kawad-i og paglaum,” Garcia said.

At present, Cebu province has already tallied over 28 cases of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), including those who are incarcerated in the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC) in Barangay Kalunasan, Cebu City.

Despite the positive cases, Garcia said the province was able to “hold its fort” amid the outbreak.

” There is light at the end of the tunnel, of this long and dark tunnel that we have we going through, And as we see the light and as we emerge, we are already preparing for that day when things can slowly transition to the new normal,” Garcia said. /rcg