BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL G. BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – The proposal of fastcraft operators servicing the Bacolod City – Iloilo City route to enforce a “no vaccination, no travel” policy on passengers in lieu of the negative swab test requirement must be studied thoroughly, according to Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran.
The city’s pandemic situation would be carefully monitored in the next two weeks; if there’s a drop in new coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infections, the fastcraft operators’ proposed policy may be approved, said Familiaran.
Frank Carbon, operator of Weesam Express, said last week that the proposed policy could replace the current travel requirement – travelers must undergo a reverse transcription – polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test and have a negative result for COVID-19.
Since both Iloilo and Bacolod cities and the provinces of Iloilo and Negros Occidental are now similarly under Alert Level 3, there shouldn’t be any more travel restrictions, he stressed.
According to Familiaran, himself a businessman, he understood the current economic situation of fastcraft operators, pointing out he had also worked for the now-defunct ferry company Negros Navigation.
He also said the current travel restriction imposed by Bacolod City and Iloilo City on travelers by boat has a chain effect on small business and transportation operators in Bacolod’s port area.
Early last week, fastcrafts decided to temporarily suspend their operations due to a sharp drop in the volume of passengers.
The drop was being attributed to a pandemic-related requirement re-imposed once more by the city governments of Iloilo and Bacolod to inbound travelers from one other’s turf – presentation of negative results of the travelers’ RT-PCR tests that should be conduct not more than 72 hours before travel./PN
