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AS SOME local government units (LGU) relaxed quarantine restrictions, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) announced on Wednesday, October 28, 2020, the resumption of the second round of road cleaning operations to varying degrees.
LGUs have 60 days from November 16, 2020 to January 15, 2021 to resume Road Clearance Operation 2.0 (RCO 2.0), seven months after it was suspended due to the 2019 coronavirus disease pandemic. (Covid-19).
In a statement, DILG Secretary Eduardo Año said that RCO 2.0 will be fully implemented in areas under modified general community quarantine (MGCQ), such as Cebu.
It will be partially implemented in areas under general community quarantine (GCQ).
Road cleaning activities will remain suspended in areas under Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) and Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ).
Both Cebu Province and Cebu City will remain under MGCQ from November 1 to 30.
Only Metro Manila, the provinces of Batangas and Lanao del Sur, and the cities of Iloilo, Bacolod, Tacloban and Iligan will be under GCQ in November.
The rest of the country is under MGCQ. No LGUs have been placed under ECQ and MECQ, which implies stricter quarantine measures, although LGUs can implement granular locks.
DILG Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya said they will validate LGU compliance from January 18-22, 2021. Those who do not comply will face administrative charges.
Ready
Raquel Arce, head of the Prevention, Restoration, Order, Beautification and Improvement (Sonda) team, said she was waiting for the mayor of Cebu City, Edgardo Labella, to give the signal to go.
“We are ready,” Arce said.
However, he said he expected resistance from residents who will be affected.
“Of course, there will be resistance. Some people often use their poverty as an excuse. They think we are the bad people. But it’s okay. We are used to it, ”Arce said.
In 2019, more than 700 suppliers were displaced when road cleaning operations were implemented in Cebu City. Vendors have not been allowed to resume sidewalk vending yet.
In Mandaue City, the Mandaue City Enforcement Unit has continued its highway clearing operations despite the suspension of RCO 2.0 last March, according to attorney John Eddu Ibañez, executive secretary to Mayor Jonas Cortes.
“We have continued our road cleaning even without a DILG order. Because if we stop, the street vendors will come back, ”Ibáñez said.
However, he said no vendors were detained. Neither were the posts confiscated.
“The mayor told us not to arrest because times were difficult. We just warned vendors that they couldn’t sell on the sidewalk, ”Ibáñez said.
With the issuance of the new DILG order, he said they were ready to comply.
DILG order
Highway cleaning operations were suspended across the country on March 16, 2020 to allow LGUs to focus on their response to the pandemic.
Year issued the DILG Circular Memorandum 2020-145, in which it ordered the LGUs to resume such operations after some LGUs flattened their epidemic curve and moved to the less strict quarantine classification.
He reminded the LGUs that road cleaning operations must be carried out continuously.
“Despite the January 15 deadline, we want to remind LGUs that RCO is a one-year effort. We need your commitment and solidarity, ”he said.
According to the latest memorandum, partial implementation in areas under GCQ is limited to the removal of road and sidewalk obstructions that are considered dangerous for motorists and pedestrians. Roads can also be cleared for the purpose of establishing bike lanes.
Exempted
DILG Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya said the following are exempt from road cleaning: parked ambulance and public emergency vehicles; checkpoints established by the IATF, LGU, police and military; and temporary obstructions caused by the establishment of bike lanes.
Structures or obstructions erected for locally stranded people should be removed upon their return to their LGU destination, Malaya said.
Full implementation in the MGCQ areas requires LGUs to adopt all components of the RCO as provided by Circular DILG Memorandum 2020-027, which Year issued in February.
According to this memorandum, road obstructions include vehicle terminals except in designated areas by the LGUs, vending sites, home invasions that obstruct the right-of-way, debris, waste materials, and other discarded items.
Malaysia also reminded LGUs that they must ban pedicabs and motorized tricycles on national roads and highways despite the rules and guidelines set by the Department of Transportation on the operation of tricycles during the community quarantine period. (JKV / JJL / WBS)
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