NEGROS Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said he will issue an executive order (EO) declaring the province under modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) and will re-impose the swabbing before entry policy in airports and seaports for travelers starting April 1.

Lacson said he will take the risk of reimposing the old protocol and put it on the EO because it will still be subject to the review of the Inter-Agency Agency Task Force.

"If they say that we are violating, then we will act. Anyway, we will be complying with the other provisions of Resolution 101 like the S-Pass and StaySafe. We will be abiding by that but there will be a slight change because we will insist on swab upon entry," Lacson said.

Lacson pointed out that all EOs are being reviewed by the Regional Inter-Agency Task Force and whenever they send a notice of non-conformity with the AITF Resolution, “we'll [abide] but we will insist to go back to the old protocol.”

Lacson also revealed that the Association of Chief Executives has passed a resolution of also going back to the old protocol of swabbing before entry.

Resolution 101 of the IATF imposed a uniform travel protocol of requiring travelers a certificate of negative result of RT-PCR test 72 hours before travel.

But Lacson noted that there have been a lot of cases where RT-PCR results are being faked.