Border controls between Cebu province, Cebu City to stay

Heavy traffic is experienced at the Talisay City border of the Cebu South Coastal Road on the afternoon of June 18, 2020, which is also the third day of Cebu City’s enhanced community quarantine in this March 2020 file photo. | CDN Digital file photo

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebu City may have just recently downgraded to a more relaxed mode of community quarantine but the Capitol will be sustaining its border controls.

Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia, in a report from the Capitol-ran Sugbo News, said the province would be keeping its stringent policies for cross-border travels.

Garcia was quoted on saying that she preferred a ‘gradual transition’ in modifying border control rules to prevent another spike in the number of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases in the province.

“Di man ta pareha gihapon og classification kay kung ma-GCQ (general community quarantine) ang Cebu City, MGCQ  (modified general community quarantine) man ang Province. So, we’d rather nga hinay-hinay sa ta kay nakahinumdom mo adtong na GCQ ang Province, GCQ ang Cebu City, unya atong giablihan ang borders nato, diha ni-shoot up ang atong (COVID-19) positives,” she explained.

(We don’t share the same classification with Cebu City. Cebu City is under GCQ while Cebu province is under MGCQ. So, we’d rather we will do this gradually because remember, when both the province and city were under GCQ, and we opened our borders, the number of COVID-19 positives shoot up.)

The national government’s anti-coronavirus task force, in a resolution dated July 31, 2020, classified Cebu province under MGCQ except for Talisay City and the towns of Minglanilla and Consolacion.

READ MORE: Talisay City, Minglanilla, Consolacion remain under GCQ

Garcia also said the province and the city government of Talisay would be discussing the fate of the boundary between Cebu City and Talisay City at Barangay Bulacao.

Garcia was quoted as saying that she would prefer on having the Bulacao border closed, which meant that all traffic between Cebu province and Cebu City would only pass through the Cebu South Coastal Road at the South Road Properties (SRP).

In a post on his official Facebook page on Friday, July 31, Talisay City Mayor Gerald Anthony ‘Samsam’ Gullas said further consultation would take place.

“We are still in consultation with the IATF (Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases), Governor Gwen, and the (Police Regional Office in Central Visayas) regarding the Bulacao border. One of the things we talked about was what happened last June 1 when the whole island was on a GCQ and we allowed the opening of that border,” said Gullas.

Talisay City belonged to the territorial jurisdiction of Cebu province and is the southbound border between the capital and the rest of the island. /dbs