ONLY the President of the Philippines can prevent foreign nationals from entering the country. Local government units can only recommend a ban.
Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia made the clarification after some netizens criticized her move to quarantine for 14 days travelers from mainland China instead of banning their entry.
Garcia reiterated that a quarantine was the best thing the Province could do to avoid the spread of the 2019 novel coronavirus-acute respiratory disease (2019-nCoV-ARD). Imposing a ban has repercussions on foreign policy and international relations which are matters that concern the President, she said.
“This is what I wish to clarify because after we had announced our plans to impose a quarantine, I have had a lot of bashing by mediocre keyboard warriors who insist that I should ban. Some even go so far of accusing me of really below-the-belt statements,” she said on Saturday, Feb. 1, 2020.
The governor is set to sign an executive order (EO) on the quarantine on Monday, Feb. 3, which is expected to take effect on Wednesday, Feb. 5.
Garcia also clarified that she had no plans to house quarantined travelers at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) after Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Junard Chan was quoted as saying “he found it hard for the MCIA to house at least 14,000 travelers at one time.”
Ahong earlier said he was more in favor of banning direct flights from China.
The governor said she “strongly encouraged” the mayor to issue an EO to impose the temporary ban against arrivals from China.
“... if, in fact, he, as a local chief executive, can impose such a ban, which already borders on foreign policy and international relations, then I would be the first to congratulate him because he would be the very first local chief executive to take upon himself matters and powers exclusively granted to the President of the Philippines under our Constitution,” Garcia said.
Chan, in a statement sent to SunStar Cebu on Saturday, said the City does not oppose quarantining travelers from China.
“While it is my personal view that expanding the temporary suspension of flights to include other cities outside Hubei Province with confirmed case of 2019-nCoV is a more apt solution, I am fully aware that such power to suspend rests with the President upon recommendation of appropriate agencies. Hence during my presscon, I made an appeal to DOH (Department of Health) to recommend to the President the expansion of the travel ban. I maintain that protecting my constituents is primordial over economic enterprise,” reads a portion of his statement.
On Saturday, Cebu Pacific Air (CEB) announced that it would cancel all flights between the Philippines and mainland China (Beijing, Shanghai, Xiamen, Guangzhou and Shenzen) from Feb. 2 to March 29, 2020 amid the developments related to the 2019-nCoV-ARD.
It also said flights between the Philippines, Hong Kong and Macau, on the other hand, have been reduced.
CEB said passengers affected by flight cancellations have been notified through contact details provided upon booking.
They may also check the status of their flights through the manage booking portal in CEB’s website.
Meanwhile, Philippine Airlines (PAL) on Friday, Jan. 31, announced that starting Feb. 1, it would reduce flights between Manila and greater China by over 50 percent.
“There is a need to maintain a number of our flights on various Manila-China routes, so that we can serve the urgent travel needs of our passengers, including many Chinese nationals returning to the mainland following their Lunar New Year holidays and Filipinos who are returning home from their stays in China,” PAL said in a statement.
PAL has yet to reduce or suspend flights from Cebu to China (Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Xiamen and Quanzhou) and to its neighboring areas Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.
“We cannot cancel all. We have to maintain some flights to enable travelers to return home,” said Cielo Villaluna, PAL spokesperson, adding that the airline does not operate regular commercial flights between Cebu and China.
Moreover, PAL expects it will need to further reduce its China flights in the coming weeks, based on its daily assessment of the situation and subject to guidelines and instructions from the DOH and the Bureau of Quarantine and concerned government authorities.
It also asked passengers to check its advisories in the coming weeks for further changes. / WBS, KOC