CEBU CITY -- There will be no more lockdowns in Cebu.

Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia gave this assurance amid the first confirmed case of monkeypox in the country.

“Diseases are here to stay. The challenge is to boost our immune system, to ensure that we protect ourselves. But never again should there ever be a lockdown,” Garcia said in her speech during the opening salvo of Cebu’s 453rd Founding Anniversary on Monday, August 1.

The province’s 453rd Founding Anniversary will be on August 6.

As if to promote the return to normalcy, the provincial government marked the start of the month-long celebration with traditional and ‘normal’ activities.

Garcia, together with Vice Gov. Hilario Davide III, members of the Provincial Board (PB) and mayors from the province’s component cities and towns, started the festivities with simultaneous, province-wide flag-raising ceremonies.

“It has been three years and it is with much joy, much gratitude that we now again celebrate the Founding Anniversary of the Province of Cebu as normal people,” said Garcia.

The governor went on to remind PB members and mayors of the lessons that the local government units learned in the past three years.

“If we must reclaim our lives, let us accept the fact that Covid-19, just like any other disease, is here because we are not living in a perfect world. In the same way tuberculosis is still around, and even polio made a reappearance. Now, (we are facing with) what they call the monkeypox,” said Garcia.

For Garcia, the Cebuanos displayed indomitable spirit in surviving the difficulties brought by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We have faced sometimes the most insurmountable obstacles and beyond all that, we survived. We did not only survive, we prevailed and we showed the rest of the country this is the way we shall go. That is Cebu. We are Cebuanos and we are a cut above the rest,” the governor said.

When the pandemic hit, the Capitol conducted simple rites for its annual founding anniversary due to lingering threats of COVID-19.