Año warns cargo ships illegally transporting locally-stranded individuals

MANILA, Philippines — Interior Secretary Eduardo Año on Friday said sanctions will be imposed on cargo ships that will illegally ferry locally stranded individuals (LSIs) to provinces.

“Mayroon dumating sa Ormoc, kay Mayor Richard Gomez, pinakamarami sa kanya. Mga 15 positive cases niya at karamihan dito mga LSIs kasi malapit lang siya sa Cebu City at dito nanggaling karamihan mga LSI niya tumawid at mga cargo ships sinakyan,” Año said over Teleradyo when asked about the spike of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases in Eastern Visayas.

(Some stranded individuals came to Ormoc under Mayor Richard Gomez, who accepted a lot of stranded persons. Around 15 positive cases were in Ormoc and mostly are LSIs from Cebu City and they use cargo ships.)

“Kaya nga eto maghihigpit na kami sa mga cargo ships, na huwag kayo magsasakay na hindi naman talaga yan kasama sa manifesto niyo dahil mananagot kayo,” he added.

(This is why we will be stricter for cargo ships, we will tell them not to serve stranded individuals because that is not part of your manifesto and you will be liable for that.)

On Thursday, locally stranded persons were banned from entering Eastern Visayas for two weeks for lack of quarantine centers.

To date, Eastern Visayas has posted 445 COVID-19 cases.