‘The differing interpretations of how best to quarantine Filipinos and other passengers from abroad have left airlines and passengers confused, their wallets greatly diminished, and their time spent unproductively.’
FIGHTING the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic is hard enough for the nation, but the effort is made even more difficult with the way big local government units (LGUs) like Cebu disregard central procedures.
The province of Cebu became the flashpoint in health protocols enforcement when Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia issued an executive order allowing the testing of all Filipinos from abroad on arrival at the Cebu airport, and processing them the local way.
This is contrary to standard protocols set by the powerful, czars-dominated Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases which sets the testing to be done seven days after arrival, with the passengers quarantined in a government-accredited hotel or facility.
The conflicting procedures necessarily resulted in additional hardship for the passengers, mostly returning overseas Filipino workers, for the Cebu directive was countermanded by the Palace by diverting all international flights to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Pasay City from May 29 to June 5, and extended until June 12.
In Governor Garcia’s order, passengers tested upon arrival at the airport will have to wait for the result in a quarantine hotel for two to three days. Those found positive will go to isolation houses. Non-Cebuanos who test negative will be allowed to continue their journey.
The differing interpretations of how best to quarantine Filipinos and other passengers from abroad have left airlines and passengers confused, their wallets greatly diminished, and their time spent unproductively. Meanwhile, it took days for President Duterte and Governor Garcia to meet and discuss the problem and reconcile their solutions.
The IATF and President Duterte presumably overruled Garcia’s directive, the reason why this week, the Department of Health will send its experts to Cebu to discuss the province’s testing and quarantine protocols and align these with IATF rules.
It is the Office of the President that ordered the provincial government of Cebu to follow the mandatory quarantine for 10 days and testing after a week for international passengers. This will hopefully solve the problem, which in hindsight should not have been one if officials can just be whipped into line by just one czar.
