The provincial government of Cebu should follow the national government’s policy on health protocols for arriving passengers, the Department of Health (DOH) reminded on Friday, June 18.
“Napagdesisyunan ng ating mga officials that the directive of the IATF (Interagency Task Force) will be strictly enforced. Ibig sabihin, kung ano man ang protocols ng IATF ay ayun po ang ipapatupad natin sa lahat ng ating borders across the country (Our officials have decided that the directive of the IATF will be strictly enforced. In other words, whatever the IATF protocols are, we will implement them in all our borders across the country). So that is very clear,” said DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire on Friday in an online forum.
“Hindi pwedeng paiba-iba ang pagpapatupad ng ating mga border control. Kailangan uniformed po iyan across regions (The implementation of our border controls cannot be inconsistent. That needs to be uniformed across regions),” she added.
Vergeire said that they are set to meet the officials of Cebu province to discuss the matter.
“Yes, we will be going there. Ito po naman ay isang bagay na gusto din nating gawin para po magkaroon na ng kalinawan itong ating mga discrepancies sa protocols (Yes, we will be going there. This is something that we want to do also, so that discrepancies in protocols can be clarified),” she added.
“Everything can be managed through these discussions. We will be hearing them, and they will be hearing us. Hopefully, by the end of that day, resolve na po yung matter (we can resolve the matter),” she added.
The policy of Cebu province is to test overseas returning Filipinos upon arrival at the airport. If tested negative, they will be allowed to undergo home quarantine.
Meanwhile, the national government’s policy is that all inbound passengers should complete 14 days of quarantine---10 days in an accredited facility and four days of home quarantine. They will also be tested on the seventh-day of their quarantine period.