BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL BAÑAGA and GLENDA TAYONA
BACOLOD City – Despite this city and Iloilo City reopening their maritime borders, the resumption of sea travel remains uncertain.
Shipping lines are not keen to reoperate for fear of incurring losses due to limited passengers, according to Director Jose Venancio Vero of Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) Region 6.
Health protocols aiming to prevent the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) also remain an issue for the shipping operators, Vero pointed out.
For his part, Mayor Jerry Treñas of Iloilo City cited another: COVID-19 protocols imposed by the provinces of Iloilo and Negros Occidental discourage passengers from to traveling.
For instance, he said, the local government of Negros Occidental requires their returning residents from Iloilo to undergo reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test.
Fast craft trips, according to Treñas, will not be commercially viable unless protocols imposed by the two provinces are reconciled.
For the time being, said Vero, passengers can take the vessels of FastCat as it is the only fast craft operator that resumed trips because of its category as cargo and passenger vessel.
It was Treñas who first lifted travel restrictions he imposed almost three months ago on sea travel. But he vowed to strictly enforce minimum health standards, safety protocols and the use of health declaration cards.
Bacolod City’s Mayor Evelio Leonardia subsequently issued a directive allowing the resumption of travel through seaports.
The two highly-urbanized cities have both general community quarantine status until the end of the month.
On Thursday, Vero met with the representatives of Bacolod City and Iloilo City along with the Philippine Ports Authority, Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and the shipping lines.
PCG-Negros Occidental chief, Lieutenant Commander Jansen Benjamin, said they will only implement orders from MARINA related to the resumption of fast craft operations.
He said shipping lines also have issues that needed to be resolved./PN
