BACOLOD City – The provincial government of Negros Occidental advised its residents still stranded in the neighboring island of Cebu to stay put in places where they are staying if they have not yet received a travel schedule.
“Please refrain from going or proceeding to the port in Tabuelan, Cebu without any advice from your respective local government units or the Province of Negros Occidental,” the Capitol said in an advisory issued on Aug. 14.
Charina Magallanes-Tan, spokesperson of the Provincial Incident Management Team for COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019), said they have yet to determine the exact number of the remaining locally-stranded individuals (LSIs) in Cebu.
Comments of some LSIs in Cebu posted on the province’s Facebook page showed many of them have been waiting to travel back to the province for months now, but their trips have not pushed through for various reasons.
Some 200 Negrenses were reportedly in the port of Tabuelan town on Friday waiting for the opportunity to return home to this province.
The last batch of LSIs from Cebu assisted by the provincial government arrived via Escalante City on Aug. 9.
The group, comprised of 91 Negrenses, was brought to the Cadiz Healing Facility where they are undergoing the mandatory quarantine period before they can return to their respective towns and cities.
In the last week of June, Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson suspended the entry of LSIs from Cebu after all quarantine facilities in this province have been occupied and to avoid more positive cases coming from the neighboring island.
At that time, almost 50 percent of the COVID-19 patients in this province were LSIs from Cebu.
In Executive Order 20-26 issued on June 15, Lacson directed Negrenses coming from Cebu to enter this province only through the Danao Port in Escalante City while the admission of LSIs will depend on the capacity of the isolation facility in Cadiz City.
As of Aug. 12, data released by the provincial government showed that out of the 715 confirmed cases in this province, 102 are LSIs who traveled from Cebu.
Meanwhile, San Carlos City is continually securing its coastal areas from LSIs who want to enter this province illegally. The city is located just across Cebu province.
Last month, personnel of the Philippine Coast Guard intercepted six LSIs who traveled on a motorboat and arrived in Barangay Buluangan, San Carlos City without proper documentation.
Aside from Escalante, San Carlos is also the main entry point to this province of travelers who board ferries from Toledo City, Cebu. (With a report from PNA/PN)
