Family from Cebu returns to Negros amid travel ban

By Glazyl Y. Masculino

 

BACOLOD City – The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG)-Negros Occidental intercepted a family of six who traveled from Cebu to Negros Occidental on Saturday despite the travel ban for locally stranded individuals (LSIs) from Cebu.

Commander Jansen Benjamin, head of PCG-Negros Occidental, said that the family, including a 7-year-old boy, were brought to a quarantine facility in San Carlos City after they were caught “unlawfully” entering the province on board a motorized boat from Pinamungahan, Cebu to Sitio Trozo, Barangay Buluangan in San Carlos City.

Benjamin said the family visited their relatives in Cebu and got stranded there due to the lockdown caused by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

He said that the family initially refused to be quarantined in the city, and they wanted to go back to Cebu.

But after some negotiations, they later submitted themselves for medical assessment, he added.

Earlier, Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson allowed the entry of LSIs from Cebu to the province, but only through Danao port in Escalante City, depending on the availability of the quarantine facilities.

But the repatriation of LSIs from Cebu to the province was temporarily suspended following the rise in the number of COVID-19 cases there.

Benjamin said that it was the third reported incident of illegal entry of LSIs from Cebu to the province amid the travel ban. Two incidents were earlier reported in Calatrava town.