ILOILO – Despite a recent national directive, the provincial government would still require travelers from areas outside Western Visayas to undergo reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests prior to entering the province.
“Dapat mag-andam gid kita,” said Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr., “Indi siling nga pabay-an nga wala gid regulasyon ang mga tawo nga mapuli sa ila pamilya.”
Over the weekend, Malacañang announced that the country’s Inter-agency Task Force on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) approved uniform travel protocols for all local government units (LGUs). Travelers would no longer be required to undergo RT-PCR testing and quarantine unless the LGU of destination requires such.
However, travelers who exhibit symptoms upon arrival have to undergo quarantine.
Defensor clarified that if a traveler was from any points of Region 6, the provincial government would not make the RT-PCR tests mandatory.
“Kay pareho man lang kita nga sa MGCQ (modified general community quarantine) kag pareho ang sitwasyon. Wala kita problema like makadto ang taga-Iloilo sa Antique and Capiz. Lain ang sitwasyon, depende sa kon ano ang ginahalinan,” the governor added.
For Defensor, it is better to ensure that the province is free from COVID-19 first before letting travelers from outside the region come in freely.
“Mas maayo kon ma-secure ang probinsya. Mabuhi man ang tourism sa domestic [travelers],” Defensor stressed.
“Kapin pa waay ako kabalo kon ready na ang taga-Luzon nga mag-travel as tourists,” he added.
With this, the governor is mulling to issue an executive order setting the guidelines on the entry of travelers from outside Western Visayas, in line with the new national directive.
On the other hand, the city government of Iloilo said it will comply with the latest resolution.
According to Mayor Jerry Treñas, the Iloilo City COVID Team would still discuss its next move “but our direction is really to comply with this resolution.”
The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) crafted these uniform travel protocols for land, air and sea, in close coordination with the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines, League of Provinces of the Philippines, League of Municipalities of the Philippines, and the League of Cities of the Philippines.
Despite the easing of restrictions, authorities shall continue to enforce the minimum public health standards such as physical distancing, hand hygiene, cough etiquette, and wearing of facemasks and face shields across all settings.
Clinical and exposure assessment shall be strictly implemented in all ports of entry and exit while health assessment of passengers, supervised by medical doctors, shall be mandatory upon entry in the port/terminal and exit at point of destination.
Authorized persons outside of residence from national government agencies and their attached agencies, on the other hand, must provide their identification card, travel order, and travel itinerary. They must likewise pass symptom-screening at the ports of entry and exit.
Meanwhile, the Department of Science and Technology’s (DOST) Safe, Swift and Smart Passage (S-PaSS) Travel Management System will now be institutionalized as the one-stop-shop application/communication for travelers.
The StaySafe.ph System shall be utilized as the primary contact tracing system. Other existing contact tracing applications, such as Traze App, must be integrated with the StaySafe.ph System.
On ports and terminals, they must have sufficient quarantine facilities. All ports and terminals shall also have a referral system wherein symptomatic travelers shall be transferred to the isolation facilities to enable the Bureau of Quarantine for airports, or local health officials for LGUs, to take over.
Further, all buses in Metro Manila bound for the provinces shall be required to use the Integrated Terminal Exchange as the central hub for transportation.
At the option of the LGUs, they may provide transportation for all travelers who are transiting from one LGU to another in cases of arrivals at air and seaports to their end-point destinations.
The DILG, Department of Health, Department of Tourism, Department of Transportation, DOST and the Philippine National Police, as well as the LGUs, shall ensure the smooth implementation of these protocols.
It was unclear, however, when will these new protocols take effect./PN
