Travelers on leisure are prohibited from entering this city for two weeks starting Sunday while Bacolod is imposing border control anew under the month-long general community quarantine (GCQ).

The use of home quarantine passes (HQPs) also takes effect during the same period from September 6 to 19 as provided in Executive Order 58-A, which amended the original schedule of September 3 to 15 stated in EO 58.

Mayor Evelio Leonardia said the establishment and maintenance of checkpoints at the city’s borders and within the city aims to enforce the implementation of the HQP system and to regulate the entry/exit of Bacolod residents and out-of-towners into the city to stem the local transmission of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).

As of Saturday night, Bacolod has 1,723 cases, including 27 deaths. Some 69 have recovered while 1,017 are still active cases.

“(This is) a measure to strictly regulate and prevent inter-zonal movement for leisure trips/travels and leisurely interaction of people intending to enter the city,” Leonardia further said in the clarificatory EO 58-B issued on Saturday.

The same directive also provided that out-of-town residents undertaking essential business will be allowed to enter Bacolod.

These include, but not necessarily limited to, government officials and government frontline personnel; health and emergency frontline services personnel; private sector employees who have to work on-site in the city; and business owners who have to personally supervise their business in the city.

Also allowed are people in the act of transporting essential goods, prime commodities, and any type of cargo in bulk and delivering construction materials for public or private construction projects, as well as those who need to make emergency purchases of medicines not available in their hometown of cities and who are transiting through the city to reach other towns and cities.

Others permitted to enter Bacolod are patients and their companions and drivers who are transported on medical emergencies, or for scheduled consultations, therapies and treatments at health facilities/clinics in the city; students who need to attend face-to-face classes at higher education institutions; food producers who need to transact with establishments in the city for the needs of their out-of-town farms; and returning residents like overseas Filipino workers or locally-stranded individuals.

Meanwhile, the HQP system is being enforced to regulate the movement of Bacolodnons within the city, and to help each household access its basic provisions for food, medicines, health, and other essential commodities and services.

Based on the odd-even scheme, holders with passes ending in the odd numbers – 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 – are permitted to leave their households and use the HQP on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays; while those with HQP ending in the even numbers – 2, 4, 6, 8, 0 – are permitted to leave their households on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.

On Sundays, no HQP holders are permitted to leave their households. The HQP cannot also be used as a travel pass through other towns and cities outside of Bacolod. (PNA)