MAY 27, 2020 (Late night): The Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases issued Resolution 40 placing Cebu City under modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ), while the rest of Region 7 (Central Visayas) was placed under general community quarantine (GCQ).
MAY 28, 2020 (Morning): When sought for his comment, Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella said he wrote a letter to DILG Regional Director Leocadio Trovela, who is also the Regional IATF chairperson, appealing to have Cebu City under GCQ instead of MECQ.
MAY 28, 2020 (Evening): President Rodrigo Duterte, during the late night virtual briefing, said only National Capital Region, Davao City, Regions II, III, IV-A, Pangasinan, and Albay will remain under GCQ while the rest of the country will transition to MGCQ. This created confusion.
MAY 29, 2020 (Afternoon): In an interview, Mayor Labella said there was no update in his appeal to the RIATF yet, adding he will abide with whatever decision the IATF will issue whether to place the entire city under MECQ, GCQ, or MGCQ.
MAY 30, 2020 (1:21 a.m.): The appeal of Mayor Labella to place Cebu City under GCQ was approved. This is the same hour the printing of SunStar Cebu newspaper for Saturday issue (May 30) is either done or ongoing.
So starting June 1 until June 15, Cebu City will be under GCQ.
But the IATF resolution is still subject to President Duterte's approval, so prepare to be confused again if MalacaƱang will have a different announcement. (JJL)