President Rodrigo Duterte warned on Monday the court from ruling against the government's policy on quarantine and testing protocols against coronavirus disease amid Cebu's own regulations as embodied in an ordinance.

"I respect the judiciary and I can assure them we will follow the orders. But at this time of a national emergency, I just like to inform the court that I will not follow them," Duterte said in his "Talk to the People."

He made the statement following the filing of a petition earlier Monday by two Cebu-based lawyers before the Cebu City Regional Trial Court. They sought a temporary restraining order and injunction of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases' 10-day facility-based quarantine and testing of returning overseas Filipinos on the seventh day of quarantine.

Duterte said he issued a proclamation because there is a national emergency.

If the court would grant the petition for an injunction against the IATF protocols, he said, "we will have an impasse.

"I advise the court, don't issue (an injunction). If you come up with it, there will be a ruckus. I'm here to protect the people as long as I am guided by reason, factual back up by studies," he said.

Duterte recalled his recent meeting with Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia and assured her that the national government is fair in enforcing the quarantine protocols.

While he saw the wisdom on Garcia's view, Duterte said he has to follow the advice of the health experts.

Garcia earlier said that only the court could stop the Cebu local government from implementing its own quarantine and testing protocols, which are provided in an ordinance, and not the IATF or the executive department.

"I leave the fate of Governor Garcia to DILG (Department of Interior and Local Government). There are mechanics put into action to compel obedience not because we want to...remember, I said, all our decisions are based on what the medical people say," he said.

Contrary to IATF resolution, Cebu swabs overseas Filipino workers and returning Filipinos on their arrival at Mactan-Cebu International Airport and those who test negative will be tested again on the seventh day in their hometowns or local destinations through the local governments.

The IATF resolution, on the other hand, provides that all arriving travelers shall undergo a 14-day quarantine upon arrival in the government designated quarantine facilities and the RT-PCR testing shall be conducted on the seventh day of quarantine. Notwithstanding a negative test result, the arriving traveler shall complete the facility-based quarantine period of 10 days. Celerina Monte/DMS