Oplan Bulabog stays in Cebu City even under Alert Level 2

Screengrabbed from CCPO live video on Oplan Bulabog on December 4, 2021.

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The conduct of Oplan Bulabog in Cebu City will stay even if the city is reverted back to Alert Level 2.

Police Lieutenant Colonel Maria Theresa Macatangay, information officer of the Cebu City Police Office(CCPO), said that they will continue to strictly implement this while waiting if Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama will issue a new executive order detailing the next implementation on the ground.

“So expect that your police will continue to go around and apprehend those who have violated the existing ordinances, especially when not wearing face masks, not complying with health protocols as well as existing ordinances of the curfew,” Macatangay said.

Cebu City will revert back to Alert Level 2 starting Wednesday, February 16, 2022, until February 28, 2022.

READ: Cebu City downgrades to Alert Level 2; daily positivity rate drops to 8%

Macatangay further reiterated that even if the city is placed under Alert Level 2, this does not mean that they will loosen their restrictions. However, she said that there will be possible adjustments, especially with the allowed capacity of customers for establishments, public transportations, and accommodation industries.

According to the guidelines from the Inter-agency Task Force for COVID-19, establishments are allowed to cater to a maximum of 50 percent indoor for fully vaccinated individuals and those below 18 years of age, even if unvaccinated, and 70 percent outdoor venue capacity.

Macatangay also added that they will now conduct Oplan Bulabog randomly instead of what was previously followed, daytime and nighttime implementation. This as they still need to analyze the intensity of their implementation in coordination with the city’s Emergency Operations Center guided by its consolidated data.

With this, Macatangay said that they will be checking what areas to focus their deployment with provided data of areas with the most positive case in the coming days.

Compliant Cebuanos

Macatangay further assessed that during their implementation of guidelines when the city was under Alert Level 3, they observed ‘compliance’ from the public.

She, however, added that when the COVID-19 cases in Cebu City decreased as per data from the Department of Health in Central Visayas (DOH-7), some establishments became relaxed in implementing of the agreed protocols.

READ: Cebu City police note several establishments violating health protocols

Other than that, Macatangay said that they have not encountered major problems. She added that most violations were recorded in residential areas and that for industrial and commercial areas, they had no major concerns.

As Cebu City continues to log decreasing numbers of COVID-19 cases, Macatangay said that compliance among the public, in most cases, is also a huge contributing factor.

As of February 14, DOH-7 recorded 45 new cases in Cebu City, bringing its total number of active cases to 3,440.

/bmjo