BACOLOD CITY, Negros Occidental, Philippines – Bacolod City Mayor Evelio Leonardia has assured Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson that the more than 1,000 Car Passes issued by the Provincial Capitol will also be honored as Entry Permits into the City despite the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) that restricts travel into and out of the City to protect its citizens from COVID-19.
Leonardia clarified that these arrangements were made only today [April 15] between the province and the city, after Lacson texted Leonardia yesterday [April 14] requesting that the City honor these provincial car passes after the city had already imposed stringent restrictions on mobility into and out of its jurisdiction since March 30 when the City’s ECQ took effect.
“We were unaware until yesterday that the province had been issuing many car passes that people mistakenly thought also allowed them unhampered travel into and out of Bacolod, which is simply not the case. I regret this misunderstanding by the people,” Leonardia said. He further added that the belated appeal to the City has been resolved as quickly as possible.
City Legal Officer Joselito Bayatan, who heads the Bacolod City Core Group coordinating with the provincial government, and Provincial Incident Management Team commander Jonathan Lobaton met Tuesday to thresh out the issues that have cropped up regarding these car passes issued by the Province.
Leonardia said he had already agreed with Lacson that tomorrow [April 16], those with Provincial Car passes will still be allowed unimpeded entry and exit out of Bacolod. However, by Friday [April 17], the odd-even scheduling on the use of these car passes into Bacolod will be implemented.
- Vehicles with car plate numbers ending in odd numbers 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 shall be allowed entry into Bacolod on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Those with car plate numbers ending in even numbers 0, 2, 4, 6, 8 will be allowed entry on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Window time of entry is between 4 a.m. to 10 p.m. only.
- Car passengers must be listed in the Provincial Car Passes (letter form) and must present their ID cards at Bacolod checkup points.
- Passengers must observe Social Distancing.
There will be no more additional issuances of Provincial Car Passes except for emergency needs, and shall be coordinated with the City Government./CITY PIO
