Duterte orders Cebu to follow IATF protocol on COVID-19 test on travelers

President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered the provincial government of Cebu to comply with the COVID-19 quarantine protocol set by national government for international travelers, Malacañang said Monday.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque made the announcement after Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea’s memo diverting Cebu-bound flights to Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) expired on June 12.

Medialdea issued the memo at the time Cebu government was administering COVID-19 RT-PCR test on non-tourist travelers from overseas on the day of arrival instead of during the seventh day of quarantine in a government-accredited facilit since the virus takes days to incubate.

“The President has decided that the IATF quarantine protocol must be implemented by the Cebu province,” Roque said, referring to the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases.

“The extension [of the diversion of flights] last week was made to prepare for this implementation [of IATF] guidelines,” he added.

Roque, however, could not say what could be the national government's acton if Cebu, led by Governor Gwen Garcia, decides to continue defying the national government protocol.

“That is better asked from the DILG,” he added, referring to the Department of Interior and Local Government.

Roque also said Duterte did not take Cebu’s defiance of IATF quarantine protocol as an affront to his authority when he met with Garcia to discuss quarantine protocols two weeks ago.

“I did not sense such emotion from the President,” he said. —KBK, GMA News