Capitol revokes transit vehicle passes

CEBU, Philippines — All transit vehicle passes (TVPs) previously approved by the Capitol have been revoked as per memorandum signed by Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia in line with the stricter border controls to be implemented.

“Karon pa lang, magpadala na ko’g memorandum. Kadtong na-issue nga transit vehicle pass nga indefinite nga magamit bisan kanus-a, I am hereby revoking all of these transit vehicle passes,” Garcia said in her press briefing streamed lived via The FREEMAN’s Facebook page yesterday.

True enough, later yesterday afternoon, Garcia released a memorandum to the Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO) and the mayors of the province revoking the TVPs that were issued with indefinite validity.

In the memorandum, it was made clear that only those issued with a definite period of validity will be spared from the mass revocation.

For those who wish to reapply, Garcia said, they may be issued a one-day TVP, that is, it will only be valid for one day.

This is if the Capitol deems the reason for travel outside the province meritorious.

TVP is a pass issued by the Capitol allowing cross-border travels from Cebu City and different parts of the province.

Prior to this announcement, Garcia called out certain individuals reportedly working in the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry in Cebu City who allegedly faked special border passes supposedly issued only to skeletal forces of government and members of the media.

The individuals reportedly used these fake passes to exit Cebu City and enter areas in the province.

“According to (Daanbantayn) Mayor Shun (Shimura), mga empleyado kuno ni sa (name of call center) nanakay pud kuno ug usa ka van nga gitagaan kuno og kani nga pass (They claimed to be workers of a call center and rode the van which was issued a pass),” Garcia said.

Unlike the printed information in the official passes, the fake passes contained handwritten serial numbers and names.

The governor said she will be filing cases against the individuals caught carrying fake passes.

“Kaning imong gihimo, pagpangilad na. Kana palang siguraduon nako nga mapriso ka. Wala’y ilad. Ipapriso tika (What you are doing is deceit. I will make sure you will be jailed. No joke. I will send you to jail),” she said.

Inspection

In a separate memorandum to the CPPO and mayors, Garcia ordered that vehicles exempted from the border closure, namely delivery vans, cargo trucks and ambulances will be inspected in “each and every” checkpoint.

Identification cards (IDs) shall be inspected by the police to determine if the people aboard are among the exceptions enumerated in Garcia’s Executive Order No. 5-O.

This move seeks to prevent the smuggling of residents from Cebu City into the province via exempted vehicles.

“Those persons not determined to be exempt shall be required to disembark (from) the vehicle and shall be prohibited from crossing the checkpoint,” the memo reads.

Latest data show that Cebu has 179 positive cases of COVID-19 with 20 recoveries and eight deaths.

In the 12 district and four provincial hospitals, three Severe Accurate Respiratory Infection (SARI) patients have been discharged against medical advice. There are no longer cases of Influenza-Like Illnesses admitted in the province’s hospitals.

LGUs in Cebu have reported a total of 3,423 persons under monitoring (PUMs), 25 ILI, and five SARI cases. They have also reported 59, 154 individuals who have complied with the mandatory 14-day home quarantine. JMD (FREEMAN)