Ferro’s recommendation for Cebu City: Status quo

Police Brigadier General Albert Inatius Ferro, director of the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7). | CDN Digital file photo

CEBU CITY, Philippines –If Police Brigadier General Albert Ignatius Ferro were to be asked, he prefer that Cebu City would remain under general community quarantine (GCQ).

Ferro, the director of Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7), told reporters on Friday, August 28, 2020, that he is “conservative” and careful with his recommendation, putting into consideration the security situation and condition of his  personnel.

“I would rather recommend for a status quo,” Ferro said.

“Maybe give us seven days – a week, so that the transition of a vacuumed positions of our augmentation will be filled out first before we could come up with a more relaxed quarantine level,” he added.

With the end of August just a few days away, the Inter Agency Task Force (IATF) is again set to decide the quarantine classification for Cebu City and the rest of the country with regards to the COVID-19 situation.

The top police official in Central Visayas earlier said he is cautious about Cebu City’s eventual downgrade to the most relaxed form of community quarantine.

Read: Ferro: Thorough assessment needed before shifting to MGCQ

Ferro, who is also one of the deciding officer of the IATF- Cebu, has said before that downgrading should be done gradually to give the security force and the public enough time to adjust.

“We should not lower our guard down because we’ll never know if there is another spreader or another spike,” said Ferro.

The gradual downgrade is also in consideration with the adjustment of the number of security personnel left as the augmented forces from Region 6 and 8 will be sent home on Monday, August 31, after being assigned in the city since June. /bmjo

Read: Mayor Labella plans to maintain some anti-COVID measures even under MGCQ