Cebu will comply with national policies while it awaits the National Inter-Agency Task Force’s (IATF) study on the province’s Covid-19 situation.

President Rodrigo Duterte, in a meeting with Cebu officials led by Governor Gwen Garcia and Presidential Assistant for the Visayas Secretary Michael Dino in Malacañang on Monday, tasked Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Francisco Duque III to look into the possibility of applying the province’s Covid-19 response measures nationwide.

“If you see something working, wouldn’t it be worth it to study it?” Garcia said in a press conference here on Tuesday.

Garcia sought the meeting after a national government order to divert international flights bound for Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) to Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) from May 29 until June 5, 2021.

Before the directive, international passengers stay in quarantine hotels while waiting for the results but could proceed to their next destinations once they test negative.

Garcia said Duterte instructed Duque to “find out” why Cebu’s Covid-19 protocols, particularly its swab-upon-arrival policy for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and returning overseas Filipinos (ROFs) are “working and perhaps be applied to other regions.”

The President wants the IATF to “see if these could possibly be a way or innovation to be adopted” across the country and submit the results by Thursday, she said.

She reiterated that Cebu’s unique quarantine and testing protocols for OFWs and ROFs aim to minimize their financial and emotional burden.

“We are not perfect. If our ways could be found effective, then they could be followed by others,” she said.

Garcia also thanked Senator Christopher “Bong” Go, who was also in the meeting, for recognizing Cebu’s success in managing the Covid-19 crisis.

She said Go has seen how Cebu has been able to manage the pandemic and open up its economy since last year.

As of May 31, Cebu has 442 active Covid-19 cases, with 17 new cases that day, based on Department of Health data.

Others in the Cebu delegation were IATF-Visayas Deputy Chief Implementer Gen. Mel Feliciano (ret.), DOH-7 spokesperson and chief pathologist Dr. Mary Jean Loreche and “Project Balik Buhay” chairman Edmun Liu.

Aside from Duque, the President was also joined by Palace Spokesperson Harry Roque, vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año. (PNA)