Cebu Port Authority (CPA) headquarters | Photo courtesy of the Cebu Port Authority
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Ports in Cebu are under heightened alert starting Sunday, March 28, for the Holy Week.
The Cebu Port Authority (CPA), in a press statement, announced that it has activated Oplan Biyaheng Ayos: Semana Santa 2021, effectively ‘stepping up all security and safety measures for the holidays.
Despite the recent travel restrictions reimposed in greater Metro Manila, CPA said they would still be anticipating a surge of passengers accessing Cebu’s ports during the Holy Week.
“We are working closely with our partner agencies and port stakeholders to double our efforts in ensuring the safety, security, order, and convenience of the public and prevent overcrowding and heavy queuing inside our ports especially with the ongoing threat of COVID-19,” said CPA General Manager Leonilo Miole.
With this, passengers can expect an increased presence of law enforcers as CPA will be deploying more Safe Distancing Marshals and Port Police Officers to implement and enforce minimum health standards in ports with high passenger traffic, among others.
Miole also reminded passengers and other individuals accessing Cebu ports to always strictly follow health protocols.
Otherwise, violators may face penalties ranging from P200 to P1,000.
“Fines ranging from P200 to P1,000 await individuals who are caught violating health and safety protocols. First-time offenders will be asked to pay a fine of P200, P500 will be imposed on second-time violators and P1,000 will be imposed for the third offense,” CPA said.
Miole also reminded passengers to ensure that they had coordinated with the local government of their destination prior to their departure.
“There have been cases that passengers booked their tickets online without prior coordination with the receiving LGU (local government unit), and sad to say, they were not given clearance to board a vessel by the PCG (Philippine Coast Guard) and were denied entry into the port for failure to present the required travel documents,” he explained.
Meanwhile, CPA said its Pier 1 and Pier 3 gates remained closed for vehicles as they continued to serve as screening stations for outbound passengers.
Those, who will fail to pass symptoms screening, will be denied entry in the port, they added.
Holy Week in the Philippines this 2021 will be celebrated from March 28 to April 3.
/dbs
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