Policemen man the checkpoint at the border of Talisay City and Cebu City along the Cebu South Coastal Road at the South Road Properties. | CDN Digital file photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines— Cebu City was reported to be generally peaceful on the first day back under Enhanced Community Quarantine, says Police Colonel Cydric Earl Tamayo, officer-in-charge of Cebu City Police Office (CCPO).
“Generally peaceful man siya kay wala may unruly nato nga mga violators,” said Tamayo.
(It was generally peaceful because there were no unruly violators.)
The city was placed back under ECQ on Tuesday, June 16, 2020. It will remain under ECQ until June 30.
Read: It’s back to ECQ for Cebu City
Tamayo said Tuesday was more of informing people that the city is now placed back under ECQ. He said they did not yet apprehend violators.
But while it was generally peaceful in the city, Tamayo said they had a bit of trouble dealing with the traffic situation and the influx of pedestrians on Tuesday.
“Nag problema ta gamay sa sakyanan. Kay sa kadako sa Cebu, dili nato ma close or ma cover ang ubang dalan nga maka lusot-lusot,” he said.
(We were having problems with the cars. Because of the size of Cebu, we can’t close ot cover some roads where they can pass.)
Read: On first day back under ECQ, Cebu City logs 203 new COVID-19 cases, two deaths
But help will be coming.
“Kakatapos lang namin ng meeting with city administrator, mag close silag uban nga mga roads,” he said.
(We just met with the city administrator and they decided to help in closing some roads.)
Tamayo said that the closure of some secondary roads in the city will help them in managing the traffic situation and make it easier for them to check the flow of people going outside their homes.
He also said that with the mandate coming from the mayor, community control points in each barangay will be put back to help the authorities man the flow of residents coming in and out of the barangays.
“This is just a sort of refresher with regards to the implementation of the ECQ kay dati na himo naman nato,” said Tamayo.
(This is just a sort of refresher with regards to the implementation of the ECQ because we already went through this before.)
Cebu City was first placed under ECQ last March 28 before it was downgraded to general community quarantine on June 1. /bmjo