by GAB & DSA
What is meant by being caught flat-footed? Who was caught flat-footed? When? Why? How? Here’s the story!
The dictionary characterizes a person who is caught flat-footed as someone who is unprepared and taken by surprise. Being caught flat-footed is also a situation who puts a person at a disadvantage especially when something happens to him/her which he/she does not expect.
In all the above cases, the local government units (LGU) of Panglao and Anda are well described. These LGUs were caught flat-footed due to the arrival of locally stranded individuals (LSIs) without or with little prior notice. The two LGUs had little clue or nothing at all about the LSIs who are from their towns and who arrived on Friday, May 22. These statements are based on the reports of our key persons involved in this story.
Indeed, this was the situation experienced by the two LGU executives – having been caught flat-footed – when there were LSIs from their respective towns who arrived together with 19 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) from Cebu.
In the case of LGU Panglao, it was the Municipal Health Officer (MHO) who was informed, on a short notice, that an LSI was arriving. She was informed that Friday was the schedule of the arrival of the LSI and this information was relayed to her only the night before the arrival.
Moreover, she was informed that there was only one Panglaoanon LSI who was arriving on Friday. She was not given any information about another arriving LSI who was from another town (not from Panglao) and who was to be quarantined in Panglao.
In a telephone interview, Panglao MHO Dr. Julita Cogo said that she was informed about a Panglaoanon LSI who was arriving on Friday. This information was relayed to her Thursday night. She lamented about the short notice given to the town regarding the information on the arriving LSI.
She was informed that there was only one LSI arriving on Friday and that this person will be quarantined in the town of Panglao.
However, last Friday, to her surprise, there were two (2) LSIs who were billeted in Panglao: one is from Panglao and one is reportedly from Anda.
The MHO of Panglao said that she was unaware about the LSI who is from Anda and the MHO further claims that she was only informed about the arrival of the Panglaoanon LSI and not of the Andahanon LSI to be billeted in Panglao.
When asked how many LSIs are in Panglao, Cogo said there are four LSIs. She said that early this week, two persons who are LSIs from Tagbilaran arrived in Panglao as they were to be quarantined in the town. All of them are at the Bluewater Resort.
She was made aware of the two Tagbilaranon LSIs who arrived on Wednesday by Tagbilaran City Health Officer Dr. Jeia Pondoc and by someone from the province who did not identify himself, Cogo said.
Cogo added that the LGU is not given ahead of time the list of names of those to be billeted in the town for quarantine purposes. The practice is that the LGU will just wait for the time the list will be given to whoever is in charge, Cogo said. Cogo emphasized that she understands the practice since confidentiality has to be observed as far as the identities of the LSIs are concerned.
However, Cogo said that more often, the LGU gets a breakdown of the arriving OFWs per town without divulging the identities.
Moreover, Cogo bared that it used to be part of the protocol that the arriving LSIs will have to present a certificate of acceptance from the LGU official of the town where the LSIs will be quarantined before the LSIs could be billeted in any hotel or lodging house for that matter.
But, in the case of the LSIs who arrived in Panglao, they (the LSIs) were not able to present an acceptance certificate, Cogo said. Yet, Cogo was told that, lately, such certificate is no longer needed because of a directive from the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).
In a related development, the Bohol Tribune learned that another group of LSIs is arriving today. So, in a separate interview, the Bohol Tribune asked Cogo if she is aware about the LSIs arriving today, Sunday. Cogo answered by saying that she did not officially receive any information about this. However, Cogo said, that a woman has approached her. This woman claims that her daughter is an LSI who will be arriving today, Sunday. The woman said, further, that like her, her daughter is a Panglaoanon and it is for this reason that, as a mother, she is approaching Cogo. The mother added that she is reaching out to Cogo because of her daughter who is an arriving LSI. Cogo said that it was through this mother of the arriving LSI where Cogo learned that an LSI from Panglao may be arriving today, Sunday.
The mother approached Cogo because the former wanted to know where her daughter can be placed under quarantine. The MHO answered the mother that the arriving LSI can be quarantined in one of the quarantine sites in the town. Cogo also told the mother that the town’s quarantine areas are scattered among the 14 barangays and two high schools with a combined capacity of 48 persons, Cogo told the Bohol Tribune in the said interview.
Furthermore, Cogo informed the Bohol Tribune that she has no idea, whatsoever, if the incoming 69 OFWs from Manila are going to be billeted in Panglao. She added, though, that she is assuming that the OFWs will be quarantined in the town of Panglao.
In separate interview, Panglao mayor Leonila Montero said she was unaware about the arrivals of the LSIs.
However, per information from Mayor Marietta Sumaylo relayed to the Managing Editor of the Bohol Tribune, Sumaylo claims that she informed Montero of the arrival of the LSIs last Thursday evening. Montero admitted that she was informed by Dauis Mayor Marietta Sumaylo about the arrival of OFWs, not the arrival of the LSIs. The message sent by Sumaylo to Montero ran this way:
“Pahibawo diay ko nimo unya kadlawon muabot mga
ofw from cebu 21 kabook adto blue waters Mare.”
Montero firmly told the Bohol Tribune that she reviewed the text sent to her by Sumaylo and there was no mention about LSIs arriving.
Montero said the LGU is still communicating with the Panglao LSIs and that the Panlao LGU has yet to come up with a list. The list will contain names of LSIs that the LGU will accept based on the capacity of the town to accept any returning LSI or OFW.
Montero said their main grievance is the lack of prior notification before the arrival of the LSIs or the OFWs. She said the LGU wants everything to be properly coordinated with.
Moreover, Montero only wants to protect her constituents from the virus.
Montero added that the town government is willing to work with anyone for as long as there is proper coordination ahead of time.
Montero is also questioning why the LSIs from other LGUs are billeted in Panglao especially those LSIs who come from a town or the city that has hotels or resorts capable of accepting persons to undergo quarantine.
ANDA
The Anda situation is unique. One of the LSIs in Panglao is reportedly from Anda.
Upon getting this information, the Bohol Tribune immediately talked to Anda mayor Metodio Amper. Mayor Amper said that he is not officially aware about an Andahanon being quarantined in Panglao.
Amper said, though, that he has been hearing unofficial reports that an Andahanon is billeted in Panglao.
According to sources, the Andahanon quarantined in Panglao is a former town official.
Amper is aware about the rumors that the Andahanon LSI billeted in Panglao is a former town official of Anda, but, Amper said that he is yet to receive an official word from the provincial authorities about the matter. Amper stressed that he really did not receive at all any information about the Andahanon LSI billeted in Panglao.
The town, Amper said, has yet to come up with a list of LSIs to be accepted and as of press time, no list has been submitted yet the the ANDA LGU for the number of LSIs to be accepted. And it is for this situation and reason that he is caught flat-footed especially when he heard that, indeed, an Andahanon is being quarantined in Panglao.. He is taken by surprise because according to Amper, he has not yet made the list of those who will be accepted.
Although the DILG directive made the requirement on certificate of acceptance no longer needed, a reliable source said that the Andahanon LSI who is billeted in Panglao was already able to get a certificate of acceptance and already signed by a Bohol mayor who is not Amper. This Bohol mayor who is not Amper who signed the acceptance certificate of the Andahanon LSI is a mayor of one of the towns in the first district of Bohol and who is allegedly very involved with the arrangement of resorts/hotels where OFWs are to be billeted including the use of transportation of caterers for the different OFWs..
CONTRASTING STATEMENTS
Considering the statements of Panglao and Anda town officials, the statements coming from Dr. Cesar Tomas Lopez, the spokesman of the Technical Working Group (TWG) are different.
Lopez said that the return of the LSIs will largely depend on the mayors. This means that it will be the LGU that will identify who among the LSIs will come home.
Lopez said that the procedure is: the LSI will contact his town’s focal person for the former to register; then the town will come up with a list of LSIs to be allowed to come home. This will be dependen on the capacity of the quarantine sites the town has which will be determined by the LGU.
In yesterday afternoon’s press conference at the Capitol, Lopez said that no LSI can return to his town without the clearance of the mayor concerned. He added that, in fact, the five LSIs from Tagbilaran were cleared by Mayor John Geesnell Yap and the two LSIs from Dauis were cleared by Mayor Sumaylo. Lopez also said that the two LSIs in Panglao were “duly acknowledged by their respective mayors” referring to Mayor Montero as the mayor of Panglao and Mayor Amper as the mayor of Anda.
However, based on the statements of Montero and Amper, they never and did not give any imprimatur on the arrival of the LSIs coming from their town. The two mayors asked how they could give an imprimatur for something they do not know about. Worse is the fact, Amper said, that he had no official information of an Andahanon in Panglao.
But when Lopez was asked, during the presscon, if Amper is aware about the Andahanon quarantined in Panglao, Lopez said “yes”.
Lopez’s statement is different from what Amper told the Bohol Tribune. Amper said that he did not receive any official information about the Andahanon LSI. Amper said that he learned about this LSI from the grapevine and not from an official notification.
Lopez added during the said presscon that an LSI has the option to stay in a quarantine facility of his own choice, at his own expense, for as long as the facility is accredited as a quarantine site observing all protocols.
The Bohol Tribune asked Lopez how many LSIs are in Bohol and Lopez said there are ten (10). The number 10 is composed of the nine persons from Friday’s arrival and one from an arrival last Sunday (May 17). This person who arrived last Sunday, May 17, is reportedly from the town of Garcia Hernandez.
Yet, Panglao reportedly has four LSIs, but only one is from Panglao and the two are from Tagbilaran and one is from Anda. Tagbilaran has five LSIs and Dauis has two LSIs.