After Duterte warning, Gov. Garcia 'sets aside' order imposing Cebu's own travel rules

Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia on Tuesday said she will "set aside" her Executive Order 23 reminding all government agencies to comply with her province's own travel protocols, which are contrary to the national government's policy.

"The President himself has stated that Cebu must follow IATF guidelines, which is national policy, which supersedes local law. In deference to the President, I am announcing right now that the Executive Order that I issued, reminding all heads and government agencies that (Cebu) ordinance is in effect and reminding all of the possible criminal and administrative charges that may be filed in violation of the ordinance... this [EO] I am now setting aside in deference of the President," Garcia said in a Facebook livestream posted on her verified social media page.

"Even as we look forward to the scheduled meeting on the 28th June with (Health) Secretary (Francisco) Duque III and same technical experts who advised President last night as regards the need to strictly implement the IATF guidelines," she added.

Even as she set aside her directive, Garcia said the Cebu government will continue to push for a "win-win solution" on travel protocols in Cebu during her upcoming meeting with the provincial board and Duque.

Garcia's statement came after President Rodrigo Duterte warned the courts that he will not follow their orders in regards to quarantine protocols.

Duterte's remarks were in reaction to the Cebu lawyers who urged a regional trial court to declare the national government's protocols for incoming travelers as inapplicable to province.

The national government protocols call for travelers to undergo a facility-based quarantine upon arrival. They are only given an RT-PCR test on the seventh day of quarantine.

But in Cebu, inbound travelers must immediately get tested upon arrival at the airport. Only after they yield negative results will they be allowed to finish their quarantine at home.

Test upon arrival to continue

The governor also announced that it will continue its protocol on free swab tests upon arrival for incoming travelers. At the same time, incoming travelers will also be tested again on the seventh day.

"Even as I set aside EO 23, we shall continue with the swab upon arrival policy. We have found that doing this gives us better control and those who arrived already tested positive. This shall continue at no cost to arriving OFWs (overseas Filipino workers) and ROFs (returning overseas Filipinos) even as the seventh day swab will be again administered to arriving Filipinos," she explained.

On the other hand, Garcia thanked the President for heeding her request in allowing the government to fund the hotel accommodation of incoming Filipino travelers as it would remove "financial and psychological burden" for returning Filipinos.

"Allow me to thank President Duterte for recognizing the wisdom of my plea that we give human consideration to the OFWs and ROFs who come home mostly not for leisure but for the greater majority of them they come home for family emergencies. The additional 10-day stay in the hotel burdens our ROFs," Garcia said.

"Let me thank the president as the ROFs aside from OFWs, will not need to pay for hotels since this will be answered for by the national government," she added.

On Monday night, Duterte requested Congress that the unutilized funds from Bayanihan 2 law may be used to pay for the quarantine expenses of OFWs and ROFs.

"Tell Gwen, the request on hotel and motel, whatever, it would not entail delay. I will see to it that it is implemented immediately. Especially the matter of expenses of sequestration," Duterte said, partly in Filipino. -MDM, GMA News