What’s new regarding the Temporary Restricted Access to Baguio City?

Baguio City – In response to the appeals brought by the concerned municipalities, changes have been applied and made known through the Advisory issued by the City Mayor on November 19 regarding the Temporary Travel Restrictions between Baguio City and La Trinidad, Tuba, Tublay, and Sablan.

The City Mayor's Office, through PIO-Baguio, released updates on November 20 as follows:

1. Medical Certificates as stated in Paragraphs 1 (c) and 2 (c) shall be required beginning on 26 November 2020 and onwards until 4 December 2020. These may be issued by a physician from a public or private health care facility or health office, and need only state that the worker or employee is not a suspect, probable, or possible COVID-19 case, and has not exhibited flu-like symptoms in the last 5 days;

2. In addition to health workers, members of the City/Provincial/Municipal Contact Tracing Teams, and members of the AFP, PNP, and BFP, members of the Provincial or Municipal COVID-19 Task Force shall be exempt from checkpoint requirements;

3. Cargo of food and other goods, logistics services, and utilities for water, electricity, fuel products, ICT, telecommunications, and waste management shall be afforded unhampered passage, but may be subject to random inspection at our checkpoint.

Prior to the updates, La Trinidad Municipal Inter-Agency Task Force (MIATF) held an emergency meeting that soon resulted to the issuance of Resolution No. 7-2020. The resolution requests Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong to recall the advisory on temporary border restriction.

“In the aforementioned meeting, various issues and concerns ranging from public transport, student, movement of delivery vehicles and trucks, medical certificate requirements and other gray areas surfaced,” reads the resolution.

Benguet Legistative Caretaker and ACT-CIS Rep. Eric Go Yap also released an statement raising same concern “in true spirit of Bayanihan.”

“I would like to appeal to you to recall the advisory that restricts travel from Benguet to Baguio. Allow me to point out though that I am in no way against stricter measures to contain the virus. We are on the same side and maybe it is best for us to discuss this further and come up with a win-win measure,” the statement reads.

According to PIO-Baguio, BLISTT and task force, when consulted through a meeting, agreed on amplified measures to contain the spread of COVID-19.

Magalong explained that the border restriction with said municipalities is meant to mitigate the spread of infection by limiting inter-municipal movement, adding the same restriction was proven effective when implemented in Itogon last Nov. 3 to 15.

The Mayor assured continued support in terms of procuring test kits, consummables and personal protective gear to ramp up their testing, enhancing their contact tracing systems, sharing isolation and hospital beds and in providing other assistance as the city had been doing since the start of the pandemic.

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