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Task force issues temporary ban of LSIs going to and from Cebu and Talisay cities
By JAMIL SANTOS, GMA NewsThe Joint Task Force COVID Shield on Saturday announced that locally stranded individuals (LSIs) are temporarily prohibited from going to and from Cebu City and Talisay City in Cebu as part of stricter measures to combat the further spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the two areas.
"As per instruction of SILG (Secretary of the Interior and Local Government) Eduardo Año, the movement of LSIs coming from or going to ECQ (enhanced community quarantine) and (modified ECQ) areas will not be allowed temporarily,” said Joint Task Force COVID Shield Commander Police Lieutenant General Guillermo Eleazar in a statement.
Eleazar said the instruction of SILG Año, who is also the vice chair of the National Task Force Against COVID-19, was made to give Cebu City and Talisay City ample time to contain the spread of the virus within their jurisdiction.
Eleazar said allowing LSIs to come in and out of the ECQ and MECQ areas may only hamper the strategies being employed by local officials and other government health experts against COVID-19 not only in Cebu and Talisay cities, but also in other areas where LSIs from the two cities might go.
President Rodrigo Duterte has again placed Cebu City under an ECQ, while Talisay City in Cebu was placed under MECQ
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Eleazar said they have already coordinated with the Philippine National Police chief General Archie Francisco Gamboa regarding the implementation of security measures for Cebu City and Talisay City, and the issuance of travel authorities in the two cities.
Police commanders across the country have already been informed to temporarily suspend the issuance of travel authorities for LSIs going to Cebu City and Talisay City.
The Regional Director of Police Regional Office 7, Director of the Cebu City Police Office and his station commanders, the Provincial Director of Cebu Police Provincial Office, and Chief of Police of Talisay City Police Station were also asked to withhold the issuance of travel authorities for LSIs inside their areas of responsibility.
The new quarantine classifications over the two cities will be in effect until June 30.
Gamboa previously ordered the deployment of at least 100 policemen from Western Visayas and Eastern Visayas regional police offices to Cebu City to assist in the implementation of the ECQ.
Additional police forces will be deployed from the Cebu Provincial Police Office for Talisay City. -MDM, GMA News