Albay lifts border checkpoints with neighboring provinces of CamSur, Sorsogon

LEGAZPI CITY — Albay Governor Al Francis Bichara lifted on Thursday the checkpoint and border control measure in the province, easing the movement of the public in and out of the regional capital of Bicol region.

Bichara said border checkpoints would no longer be required since Albay has been placed under more relaxed Alert Level 2 by the Interagency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Disease (IATF) amid a downtrend in Covid-19 cases in the province.

In accordance with the IATF guidelines on the nationwide implementation of alert level system for Covid-19 response, “intrazonal and interzonal movement shall be allowed,” Bichara said.

He directed the Philippine National Police personnel manning the major checkpoints in Albay’s borders with the provinces of Camarines Sur and Sorsogon  to lift its control measure  and allow the movement of vehicles and passenger buses that are entering the province.

Albay is a key transport route for vehicles, including cargo trucks, coming from Metro Manila and other parts of Luzon heading for ports in Sorsogon en route to ports on Samar Island the island-province of Masbate,  both of which are also transshipment points to other areas in the Visayas and Mindanao.

However, reasonable restriction may be imposed by the LGUs (local government units), which should not be stricter as those prescribed under the higher alert levels and subject to the oversight, monitoring and evaluation of their respective (regional) IATF,“ said Bichara in an order.

Bichara said that lifting the checkpoints and border control would reinvigorate the economy that has been badly affected by the stricter community quarantine guidelines set to curb the spread of the Coronavirus disease pandemic.

“While the checkpoint and  border control has proven crucial in prevent the spread of the virus within the province , it’s impact however to the economy cannot be overlooked,” he added.

The latest cumulative number of doses administered in the  province was at 614,794, or about 62 percent of Albayanos inoculated with at least one dose out of the total target population of 987,297, local health records showed.

JPV