465 Baguio visitors turned back due to lack of documents

A total of 465 travelers , from September 1  to 12, were  immediately sent back to their places of origin after it was found  by Baguio City Police Office (BCPO)  personnel manning the city’s borders that they either had none or lacked the needed documents to enter the Summer Capital. This was revealed by City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office  chief Antonette Anaban during the online management committee meeting of local officials, Sept. 14, led by Mayor Benjamin Magalong.

She presented updates  on the city’s Delta variant contingency plan where stricter border control is one of its 20 key result areas.

The lion’s share of those who were sent packing back home, 209, where those caught at the Marcos Highway border; 51, Tuba Viewdeck; 34, Irisan; 10, Magsaysay; 61, Longlong Tacay; 90, Tiptop; 0, Kias; 3, Asin Tadiangan; and 7 individuals were turned back at the Ambiong border.

No travelers  presenting fake documents  and colorum vehicles were apprehended at the city’s borders during the same period, Anaban said.

The Mayor earlier ordered the BCPO under P/Col. Glenn Lonogan to enforce stricter control of the city’s borders due to the current surge in coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) cases mostly due to its more infectious Delta variant.

The  contingency plan’s  key result areas are:  Stricter border control; monitoring of compliance with MPHS; MPHS in establishments and workplaces; expanded age-based restrictions; limited mass gathering; conduct of classes, board review, registration, examinations within Baguio; promote use of telemedicine/telecommunication; management of the dead; implementation of rolling stores and market-to-home delivery; and vaccination program.

Expanded risk-based/targeted testing; aggressive contact tracing; isolation/quarantine policy and increase in bed capacities; community/granular lockdown; monitoring of critical care utilization; augmentation of health workers; inventory/procurement of critical equipment; stockpiling of critical supplies and medicines; real-time referral and coordination of cases; mental health and wellness programs, are the other key result areas. – Gaby B. Keith, 16.Sept.2021