A showdown between two legislative bodies is forthcoming as the Sangguniang Panlalawigan passed an ordinance Friday giving teeth to the Executive Order of Gov. Roel Degamo for Enhanced Community Quarantine, which contrasts with the ordinance passed by the Dumaguete Sangguniang Panglunsod implementing a gentler version of Mayor Felipe Remollo’s Enhanced Traffic & Mobility Control Management.
Under the Governor’s Executive Order, public transport is prohibited all throughout the Province. In contrast, the Dumaguete Mayor’s Traffic & Mobility Control Management allows tricycles to freely roam the streets.
Under the Local Government Code, all component cities are required to comply with provincial ordinances. Dumaguete is a component city of the Province of Negros Oriental.
The Provincial Board has brought the potential conflict before the Department of Interior & Local Government Provincial Director Farah Gentuya, who vowed to remind the City to abide by the Provincial ordinance.
The Dumaguete City government launched Friday what it called the Enhanced Traffic & Mobility Control Management, as a major solution to help contain the spread of the coronavirus.
“If we are successful [in containing the spread], we can hug and kiss each other after two weeks,” Mayor Felipe Antonio Remollo said.
He warned that “if naa ra masipyat ani bisan usa lang,” the virus can escalate and could take us longer to solve it.
Assistant Provincial Health Officer Dr. Liland Zoila Bustamante-Estacion on Thursday announced there are now 6,499 cases of persons who are asymptomatic or under monitoring/quarantine. Two more were confirmed positive cases of CoViD-19: one with a history of exposure to another CoViD patient, and another who had travelled to Dubai. Both are now admitted in local hospitals.
The City Council also appropriated P5 million to support the full implementation of Executive Order No. 19.
The Mayor said E.O. 19 is an innovation of what is commonly being practiced as ECQ all over the country, providing one Pass to each household that allows one family representative the opportunity to leave the house to do essentials like buying food or medicines, or going to the bank.
In Dumaguete, the colored-coded passes, which specify the days when one can do the essentials, are meant to minimize contact with more people, and implement better social distancing. The rationale of the color coding is to decongest the movement of people on particular days. “The more people are converging at any one time, the greater the risk of the virus being spread,” he warned.
“The best way to fight CoViD is to stay at home — that is the wisdom of E.O 19 and the Ordinance,” Mayor Remollo said. “Magpuyo ta sa atong balay kay bisan pa tanan imong silingan naa nay virus pero ikaw magpuyo sa balay, you are free from virus.”
The city government also set new business hours at the Dumaguete Public Market: 7am to 12 noon from Monday to Wednesday; and 1-6pm from Thursday to Saturdays.
The Dumaguete Public Market will be closed on times when non-Dumaguete residents are allowed to enter the City.
The Mayor urged merchandisers to supply the sari-sari stores with stocks like rice so that the people will not have to go all the way to the groceries in the central business district. He also appealed to the people to simply get their supplies from pharmacies nearest them. “Even with a Pass, try to avoid using it because the goal is to prevent contact [with other people].”
He said the moment one member of the household goes out of the house, he is endangering himself, his family, and the community of contracting or transmitting the disease. “Maalahig imong pamilya,” he warned.
“I know these are hard times, we are in a crisis, but we have to implement stricter measures to protect the entire community,” the Mayor said.
He said we cannot win this war against CoViD-19 “unless everyone cooperates”. He said even his own father “nangluod na because I don’t allow him to go out of the house but that is my stance because it is for his own good, and the good of his household.”
“[Being quarantined] the next two weeks is a small price to pay for your life,” the Mayor said. He admitted that people may be inconvenienced by not being able to leave their homes or by having to spend more time in checkpoints, but that this might be the solution to stop people from infecting others. “If you want to continue on living in this community, this is a small inconvenience you have to go through.”
He also challenged the City’s barangay captains to convince their residents not to ask for passes or to avoid having to use them at all. “The ideal way is for the barangay councils to think of ways how they can do the groceries or marketing for the households instead, so that people stay home.” He said if that is done, that barangay should be given an award.
Meanwhile, the entry of non-Dumaguete residents who are holders of the Provincial ECQ Pass has been scheduled on three days when all Dumaguete residents are expected to be home: Tuesdays from 1-6pm; Thursdays and Sundays from 7pm-12 midnight.
Eleven checkpoints have been set up in strategic areas that have access to CCTV cameras to monitor the entry of people from the towns: Diversion Road in Camanjac, Balugo-Candau-ay Road, Crossing Taclobo, Dumaguete-Valencia Road, South National Road at the border of Bacong, North Road-Buñao, fronting CitiMall, fronting Lu Pega Bldg. along V. Locsin St., fronting BDO in Teves St., the intersection of Real and Pinili Sts. at the market area, and fronting Avon along Real. St.
Vice Mayor Alan Gel Cordova said people from the towns who need to come to Dumaguete will go through checkpoints. He said the tanods and police have been trained to do the mandatory thermal scan, and ask questions “to confirm the legitimacy of the travel”.
Then the non-Dumaguete residents are supposed to exchange their Provincial ECQ Pass for a Dumaguete Temporary Safe Pass, and surrender their driver’s license or the official receipt-certificate of registration (OR-CR) issued by the Land Transportation Office in exchange for a claim stub.
“Kon dili na ninyo mahimo, dili mo kasulod sa Dumaguete!,” Mayor Remollo stressed.
He was quick to add that it would even be better if the non-Dumaguete residents will not agree to leaving their driver’s licenses at the checkpoints. “Mas maayo kon dili mo mosugot, then mobalik nalang mo, mopuyo mo sa inyong balay!”
He reiterated the point of the E.O is really for people to Stay Home.
While the Governor has stopped public utility transportation in the Province from plying their routes, Mayor Remollo said he is allowing pedicabs to continue their trade in Dumaguete. “But with most people staying home, I doubt if the pedicab drivers will even want to drive around looking for passengers.”
The City has committed to provide financial assistant to the more than 2,000 pedicab drivers who are registered with their respective associations.
Share-a-pass
Thursday night when the Quarantine Passes were being distributed to the barangays, not a few went on Facebook to complain why, for example, three households would have to share one pass.
Barangay Taclobo posted in their Facebook page that they have received 700 passes that will be divided among the five “stations”, where representatives of each of the 2,045 households can simply borrow one pass each time.
Barangay Daro received 800 passes for its 8,000 households. Barangay Banilad received 700 passes for 2,300 households. Barangay Bantayan received 667 passes for its 5,000 households.
Brgy. Councilor Marife Ligon-Cordova said the barangay of Piapi received about300 passes. She said some families who live close to each other will have to share a pass.
Calindagan Brgy. Capt. Maisa Longa-Sagarbarria said they’re discussing how to distribute their 900 passes to their 3,000 households. “We are devising a share-a-pass scheme wherein five to 10 households who live close to each other can share one pass.” She said the informal settlers are amenable to the idea. “They told me, ‘Asa man pod mi manlaag?’” She said she’s happy that the residents themselves have decided to simply stay home.
Barangay 5 got nine passes, two of which were assigned to Silliman Campus residents as a group. On his Facebook wall, Atty. Joshua Ablong of the SU Campus Residents Taskforce, announced that he would leave the Black Pass at the KH Gate for the residents use for at most an hour. (Irma Faith Pal)