BACOLOD City-The Emergency Operations Center(EOC)clarified that only kids who are below five years old are exempted from the travel requirements provided they are accompanied by a fully vaccinated adult.
“Whereas those who are five years old and above must comply with the protocols set by the city and the province,” the EOC said.
This was following several inbound travelers in this city who got confused in the travel guidelines in entering the province of Negros Occidental.
According to Doctor Chris Sorongon, deputy for medical data analysis and management of the EOC said unvaccinated minors aged 5-17 years old must present a negative rapid antigen test (RAT) with 48 hours validity or an RT-PCR (Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction) test with 72 hours validity.
They also need to process their BacTrac (identification ID) ID and S-Pass when traveling to Bacolod via the Bacolod-Silay Airport, Sorongon added.
Despite the lesser travel restrictions in this city following its downgrade to alert level 2 beginning Feb. 16 to 28, passengers bound for the city are still required to apply for a SPass as part of their travel requirements.
The Bacolod-Silay Airport is under the jurisdiction of Negros Occidental which means travelers are mandated to follow travel policies set by the provincial government.
“Since the provincial government of Negros Occidental requires SPass for all travelers coming through Silay Airport, then Bacolod residents should also comply with the requirement to avoid any travel conflict or worse, flight cancellations,” Em Ang, executive director of EOC said.
There were even instances that passengers who were already at the airport were not allowed to board because they failed to present an approved SPass, she added.
But while the recent Executive Order No. 8 issued by Mayor Evelio Leonardia excluded the need for a SPass for Bacolod-bound passengers, Ang explained that the city will continue its fast approval for Bacolodnons to avoid further inconvenience./PN
