Police Brigadier General Albert Ignatius Ferro, director of Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7), inspects Barangay Basak San Nicolas in Cebu City in this June 29, 2020 photo.
CEBU CITY, Philippines — “We cannot afford to go back to ECQ (enhanced community quarantine).”
This is what what Police Brigadier General Albert Ignatius Ferro, director of Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7), said after President Rodrigo Duterte in a televised presser aired on Friday morning, July 31, 2020, announced Cebu City was downgraded to general community quarantine.
Read: Cebu City downgraded to GCQ
“So atoang hangyo sa ating mga kaigsuonan diri sa Sugbo na mag cooperate ta,” Ferro added.
(So my request to Cebuanos is to cooperate.)
The GCQ status is effective immediately along with the adjusted guidelines, including the reopening of several establishments and operation of a few public transportation.
Ferro said that the purpose of the gradual downgrade of status was to give more time for the public to adjust with the new normal, which includes strictly observing health protocols. According to Ferro, this was ignored the first time the city was downgraded to GCQ last June.
“We cannot afford to make the same mistake,” said Ferro.
Ferro said that the strict checkpoints, border control points and patrolling will continue to make sure that the health protocols will still be observed in the hopes of minimizing the chances of spreading the coronavirus.
“We all work together, mag tinabangay ta, para ma tiwas na maka graduate ta sa GCQ going to MGCQ para dili ta lisuran,” said Ferro.
(Let’s help each other so we can graduate from GCQ to MGCQ so we won’t have a tough time anymore.) /bmjo