BY GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson established conditions yesterday for allowing residents of Mabinay town in Negros Oriental to enter Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental, as border control between the two local government units has been relaxed.
Starting March 1, Lacson said Mabinay residents will be allowed to enter Kabankalan City in private vehicles, but may only stay for 12 hours.
Lacson, who met yesterday with Provincial Health Officer, Dr. Ernell Tumimbang, and Zeaphard Gerhart Caelian, head of the Negros Occidental Provincial Disaster Management Program Division, also said that Mabinay will quarantine its residents if they go beyond 24 hours from the time they left the town.
Mabinay opened its border with Kabankalan City, and San Carlos City also eased its border control for residents of Vallehermoso in Negros Oriental, several months ago.
“I don’t think anybody would want to go all the way to Bacolod City only to be quarantined when they go back to Mabinay, at that expense,” Lacson said.
The reason really why Mabinay residents travel is for commerce, sometimes even for medical purposes and they prefer to go to Kabankalan, rather than other areas of Negros Oriental, he also said.
Mabinay and Vallehermoso had zero active Covid cases, the provincial government of Negros Oriental reported, while Kabankalan had two, and San Carlos City, four active cases, based on the report of the Provincial Incident Management Team, as of Feb. 16.
All over Negros Occidental, active cases also went down further to 64, compared to more than 100 three weeks ago, while Negros Oriental had 168 active cases. Lacson said he will talk to Mayor Renato Gustilo if a similar arrangement like that between Mabinay and Kabankalan, may also be applied in San Carlos and Vallehermoso.*
