THE Mandaue City government will request the Regional Inter-Agency Task Force (RIATF) to release a recommendation to unify the curfew hours of the three highly urbanized cities of Cebu.
This, after the city received a letter from the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) on the request of business establishments to implement a unified curfew in the cities of Mandaue, Cebu and Lapu-Lapu.
It can be recalled that Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes wanted to convene with the Cebu City and Lapu-Lapu City mayors to adopt unified curfew hours as implemented by the mayors of 16 cities and one municipality in Metro Manila to curb Covid-19 cases.
According to lawyer August Lizer Malate, head of the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) of Mandaue City, the three city mayors have yet to convene to discuss this matter.
Malate said Mandaue City’s curfew hours are 11 p.m. to 4 a.m., which are more relaxed than those of the other two highly urbanized cities.
Malate said they implemented these curfew hours to give business establishments long operating hours.
In this request from the business establishments to have a unified curfew, Malate said Mandaue City can easily amend and implement the comprehensive curfew by releasing an executive order, Malate said.
However, he said for other local government units, their curfew was implemented through an ordinance, so it has to undergo a process before its implementation.
He also answered the letter from the DILG and asked if they could give an optimum or recommended curfew.
Malate said if the DILG wanted a more lax curfew, then Mandaue City’s curfew hours would be reasonable.
With that, Malate said they wanted the RIATF to take a lead in coordinating with the three cities and they wanted to know its recommendation on this matter, so that the three cities would adjust.
Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella said he is yet to meet with the mayors of Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu to discuss the uniformity of curfew hours.
While Labella finds the city’s current curfew hours suitable for business establishments, he will also listen to the other two mayors.
Cebu City’s curfew starts at 11 p.m. and ends at 5 a.m. the next day. “On a personal note, this 11 to 5 is an ideal time,” said Labella.
He said the city’s curfew gives enough time for business owners to wrap up their operations for the day. (KFD / JJL)