BY GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Some Negros Occidental mayors have expressed support for the stand of Negros Occidental provincial governmentof not lifting the negative RT-PCR test results for inbound Negros Occidental travelers originating from Metro Manila and other areas of the country placed under Alert Level 3.
“God bless us all,” Cadiz City Mayor Salvador Escalante Jr. said, if Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson agrees to the proposal of Bacolod City Mayor Evelio Leonardia, to require only negative antigen testing results for inbound Bacolod passengers in lieu of RT-PCR testing requirements.
Leonardia and Lacson will have a virtual meeting on January 28 to harmonize the travel regulations of both highly-urbanized city and provincial government, with 31 mayors having been invited to attend.
Kabankalan City Mayor Pedro Zayco and Toboso Mayor Richard Jaojoco also backed the stand of Escalante.
Noting that some COVID-19 patients sent to Cadiz District Hospital and Cadiz Healing Center are residents of Bacolod City, Escalante said “our health care program in Cadiz City is being overwhelmed.”
This is the case, because Bacolod has no hospital of its own, he stressed.
At present, Cadiz District Hospital is the lone designated COVID-19 health facility of the provincial government of Negros Occidental.
He stressed that the provincial government and Cadiz City government take care of COVID-19 patients until fully recovered.
Escalante further said that he will only agree with the proposal of Mayor Leonardia “if we take care of our own positive cases.”
He also agrees with the suggestion of Provincial Inter Agency Task Force action officer Rayfrando Diaz that the Bacolod City government should help shoulder the cost of the RT- PCR for inbound Bacolod travelers, upon arrival at the Bacolod-Silay airport.
The reaction of Mayor Richard Jaojoco of the municipality of Tobosois “short and precise – safety first.” This means, Jaojoco said, that Negros should lean towards “any additional safeguards.”
Kabankalan City Pedro Zayco said that he will support whatever decisions made by Gov. Lacson.
“I believe in the wisdom of the governor, and I also believe that what he is doing is for the best interest of Negros Occidental,” Zayco added.*
