Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson issued executive orders on Wednesday, July 20, placing 12 local government units in Negros Occidental under COVID-19 Alert Level 1 and setting the guidelines for migrant sugarcane workers (MSWs) travelling to the province for Crop Year 2022-2023.
Executive Order No. 22-34, Series of 2022, places the cities of Sagay, Victorias, La Carlota, Cadiz, and Talisay along with the municipalities of Ilog, EB Magalona, Pulupadan, San Enrique, Candoni, Pontevedra, and Valladolid under Alert Level 1 and the rest of Negros Occidental under, Alert Level 2 until July 31.
Executive Order No. 22-35 Series of 2022 states that with the expected influx of MSWs entering the Negros Occidental there is a need to issue proactive guidelines to prevent a potential surge of COVID-19 cases in the province.
Lacson said MSWs travelling to Negros Occidental, should be subject to the following guidelines:
*Individual planters should submit to the Department of Labor and Employment the approved list of MSWs they require for crop year 2022-2023.
*The list to be submitted by the planter to his association should contain the complete names of migrant sugarcane workers, their basic Information, place of assignment and preferred date of arrival in Negros Occidental.
*The planter association should endorse the list to the provincial government for proper coordination.
Fully vaccinated MSWs will be required to present verifiable COVID-19 vaccination cards/certificates to enter the province of Negros Occidental.
MSWs who have no vaccination cards will be required to submit to RT-PCR testing on arrival at the port of entry.
The planter should provide the transportation of farm workers from their port of entries to their quarters (quarantine facilities) located in their respective farms until the RT-PCR results are released by the Provincial Health Office (PHO).
All positive cases shall be subject to home quarantine.*