Talisay City will already allow entry into the city from Cebu City through N. Bacalso Avenue in Barangay Bulacao. (CDN Digital File Photo)
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Residents, who reside in the southern part of the province, may already pass through N. Bacalso Avenue in Barangay Bulacao in entering Talisay City in the south from 5 p.m. until 9 p.m.
Talisay City Mayor Gerald Anthony Gullas Jr., in an update posted on his Facebook page, said the move was intended to make going home easier for residents in the city and other towns in the south from their work in Cebu City, which was now under the same quarantine control status with the city of Talisay and the towns of Consolacion and Minglanilla.
Gullas said checkpoints would remain in place to ensure that leisure travel would still be restricted.
On Monday, August 3, 2020, Gullas and Mayors Elanito Peña of Minglanilla and Joannes Alegado of Consolacion met with Governor Gwendolyn Garcia
On Cebu City’s side of N. Bacalso Avenue, Gullas advised the public to wait for the announcement of the Cebu City government as the latter has the jurisdiction on whether they would allow to open the Bulacao entrance for those entering Cebu City from the south.
At present, the entrance to Cebu City from the south is through the Cebu South Coastal Road.
Gullas, who visited the Cebu City Emergency Operations Center (EOC) on Monday, said he was told by the Cebu City authorities that they would prefer to maintain the status quo for the moment.
READ: Border controls between Cebu province, Cebu City to stay
“They told me that as of the moment that status quo lang sa [sila] sa Cebu City. Meaning, they will not open that border for the meantime except for medical frontliners and hospital staff like before,” Gullas said.
READ: Gwen orders strict border control with Cebu City anew
“ENTERING CEBU CITY for all, they will only allow the SRP entrance kay [sila] man [mo-set og] checkpoint entering Cebu City,” Gullas added.
Meanwhile, Gullas reminded the public to maintain the observance of health protocols despite the downgrading of Cebu City to the general community quarantine.
Cebu City, which has a total of 9,07 confirmed cases as of August 2, now has over 2,900 active cases while Talisay City, which has the highest total number of infections among the component LGUs of Cebu province at 748 cases, now has 134 remaining active cases after it logged 537 recoveries and 75 deaths.
“I believe people who want to go back to work or restart their individual businesses also know that no matter what classification, the virus remains, and they will need to play their part in implementing the minimum health protocols outside of [their] residence,” said Gullas./dbs