Border controls remain as Cebu province’s MGCQ takes effect on July 10

Policemen man a border checkpoint in Barangay Bulacao in Talisay City as stricter border controls between Cebu City and Cebu Province are implemented on this June 26, 2020 photo. Talisay City is one the province’s border with Cebu City.

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The more “relaxed” protocols under the modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) status in Cebu province will already take effect at midnight on Friday, July 10, 2020.

Governor Gwendolyn Garcia has signed on Thursday, July 9, Executive Order No. 20, which sets the guidelines for the implementation of the quarantine measures in the province.

While the observance of minimum health standards is still required under the MGCQ, Garcia called on establishments in the province to make use of technological development to advance their measures as more businesses reopen under the MGCQ.

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Aside from setting up footbaths and checking the temperatures of clients before granting entry into an establishment, Garcia enjoined the businesses located in enclosed areas that are allowed to operate under the MGCQ to install air purification, sterilization, and sanitation systems like air purifiers and ultraviolet (UV) light disinfection lamps or bulbs.

Under the MGCQ, the Capitol permits the operation of dine-in restaurants limited to 50 percent of its customer seating capacity.

Read more: Executive Order No. 20

EO No. 20 also encourages that dining areas should be in open-air spaces. Buffet dining services are still not allowed.

Protocols in the operation of public transport in a limited capacity during the GCQ will still be observed.

Border controls

Despite the more relaxed quarantine status of the province, its border controls remain against Cebu City, which is still under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), the highest quarantine status.

Under EO No. 20, those permitted to enter the province are limited to:

• Governor, Vice Governor, Board Members;
• Justices of the Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, Court of Tax Appeals, and Sandiganbayan;
• Ombudsman and the Deputy Ombudsman;
• Cebuano Congressmen
• Judges and the skeletal workforce of the lower courts;
• Regional and provincial directors, and heads of bureaus of the national government;
• the skeletal workforce of the DILG, LTO, LTFRB, Department of Agriculture, DTI, DOLE, DSWD, BIR, Bureau of Immigration, and the Bureau of Custom;
• Mayors and vice mayors of the component towns and cities and their authorized employees;
• Capitol employees;
• Prosecutors and the skeletal workforce of the Prosecutor’s Office;
• Officials and staff of the DOH
• Government and private medical workers;
• Hospital workers, administrative and utility staff;
• accredited media personnel
• PNP, AFP, Coast Guard and other security personnel including private security
• Field personnel for energy and utility services providers;
• Officials and employees of banks and money transfer firms;
• lawyers who are attending hearings;
• delivery personnel (with cargo pass);
• persons with pre-existing medical conditions (with medical certificate and certification from the mayor of the LGU of residence with up to one companion); and
• funeral services personnel facilitating the transport of a deceased to the burial site.

Garcia ordered the reinstitution of the border controls against the city last June 26, after briefly easing the control on June 3 following an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases in the province.

Last June 30, Cebu province’s appeals to be downgraded to MGCQ from GCQ was granted by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID), except for Talisay City and the towns of Minglanilla and Consolacion. The three LGUs, which remain under GCQ, have the highest number of COVID-19 cases in the province./dbs