CDN FILE PHOTO 2018
CEBU CITY, Philippines – The Mactan Cebu International Airport (MCIA) will temporarily stop accepting flights carrying returning overseas Filipinos (ROFs) and Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) for two days.
Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia, in a virtual press conference on Thursday, May 13, 2021, announced that quarantine hotels, where ROFs and OFWs will be staying in Cebu pending their swab test results, are nearing full capacity.
As a result, Garcia said officials from the airport and national government agencies decided to momentarily close Terminal 2 of MCIA starting this Friday, May 14 until Saturday, May 15.
“Di sa ta mudawat ug incoming flights kay wa nay mabutangan… Gi-cancel na ang uban flights (and) that is why I have to call an emergency meeting (today, May 13),” said Garcia.
(We have to temporarily stop accepting incoming flights because ROFs have no places to stay. Some flights have already been cancelled and that is why I have to call an emergency meeting today, May 13.)
Also present during Capitol’s emergency meeting on Thursday were DOH-7 director Dr. Jaime Bernadas, and key officials from the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) – Usec. Epimaco Densing III and Central Visayas director Leocadio Trovela.
Garcia said Cebu has a total of 2,500 quarantine rooms from 35 hotels accredited as holding areas for ROFs and OFWs with pending RT-PCR (real-time polymerase chain reaction) test results.
But according to the governor, most of these have already been occupied due to an influx of ROFs and OFWs transiting Cebu on their way to their respective hometowns.
“Daghan muagi ug Cebu (para makauli) pero maapektohan sad ang taga Cebu. (Mao na nga) gipangcancel na ang uban flights,” explained Garcia.
(A lot are transiting Cebu to go home but the influx also impacted Cebu. This is why some flights have been cancelled already.)
“And I wish to repeat that please, do not think I am discriminating against non-Cebuanos. Gobernador ko sa Cebu (I am the governor of Cebu), and my authority is over Cebu province. I don’t want to overstep protocols in other local governments,” she added.
Incoming Filipino travelers from overseas will be swabbed for COVID-19 upon arrival but non-Cebu residents will have to complete a 10-day stay in designated hotels, even if they test negative of the infection.
They will also undergo another round of swab tests during the 7th day of their isolation.
For Cebu residents, they will only have to stay for a maximum of two days in isolation if they test negative of COVID-19 otherwise, they will be transported immediately to a facility for proper treatment.
/bmjo
RELATED STORIES:
‘One-Island’ swab policy for ROFs eyed in entire Cebu
Free swab tests for returning Filipino travelers at Mactan Cebu Int’ Airport