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Secretary Harry Roque./Photo courtesy of PCOO
+ May 31, 2021 PRESIDENTIAL Spokesperson and Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) spokesperson Harry Roque clarified Monday, May 31, 2021, that no legal action against Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia is in the offing.
Roque issued the clarification following an earlier statement made by Garcia that Roque and Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra will be filing charges against the governor for her insistence on a policy contrary to IATF guidelines. There is no truth to reports that I would be planning to take legal action against Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia over certain decisions made in relation to the Provincial Government s Covid-19 response. This is not within my scope of duties and responsibilities as Presidential Spokesperson and Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) spokesperson, Roque said.
May 27, 2021 IN AN apparent rebuke of Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia over her testing and quarantine policy for returning overseas Filipinos (ROF), Malacañang ordered that all international flights bound for Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) be diverted to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport for eight days beginning Saturday, May 29, 2021.
Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea also relayed President Rodrigo Duterte’s order to enforce the testing and quarantine protocols set by the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases in all ports of entry nationwide.
These directives are contained in a memorandum that Medialdea issued on Thursday, May 27, two days after Garcia revealed plans by some national officials to charge her for allegedly defying the IATF protocols.
Governor Gwendolyn Garcia (Governor Gwendolyn Garcia FB Page)
Garcia agreed with Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Junard “Ahong” Chan, who previously proposed that foreign tourists who have been fully vaccinated should already be allowed to enter the city.
Garcia said before the COVID-19 pandemic struck, Cebu was frequently visited most by tourists from Korea, China and Japan.
The governor said the province can set up a “tourism bubble plan subject to protocols that the province has been implementing.”
“So, why can’t we do the same for other countries that have also been able to manage their COVID system…that have an established COVID management system as what we are showing here in Cebu,” Garcia said.
CEBU CITY – Will Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia take the COVID-19 vaccine?
The lady governor is taking a wait-and-see approach, saying allowing oneself to be inoculated is a “personal choice.”
“As it is, I think it’s premature for me to answer that. But for me, those who are in the priority list should get the vaccine first,” said Garcia, noting that the country has yet to acquire a sufficient supply of COVID-19 jabs.
While she could not say yet if she is willing to be vaccinated, the governor emphasized she is supporting the government’s vaccination program.
In Cebu, Minglanilla Mayor Elanito Pena is so far the only town mayor to be vaccinated.