BACOLOD City – Some 2,408 residents of this province stranded in other parts of the country due to travel restrictions brought by coronavirus disease 2019 have been repatriated.
According to the list provided by Gov. Eugenio Lacson during a press conference on Thursday, those who have returned home since March 30 until June 10 were 949 overseas Filipino workers and 1,459 locally stranded individuals (LSIs),
From June 9 to 11, the provincial government organized sweeper flights with Philippine Airlines (PAL) for Negrenses stranded in Metro Manila.
Eighty-four persons arrived on June 9 while 120 came home on June 10. On June 11, 155 more Negrenses were able to return home.
The return flights, on the other hand, carried 151 passengers on June 9 and 148 on June 10.
Lacson said the provincial government will ask concerned agencies anew to allow airport operations for sweeper flights only even beyond June 15.
“We will continue to request that. We will also request PAL or whatever airline to allow all those who have already bought tickets (for commercial flights) to take the sweeper flights,” he added.
It was initially announced that the Bacolod-Silay Airport in Silay City will resume commercial flights starting June 16.
Passengers boarding the sweeper flights are required to secure medical certificates from the local health offices of their place of origin and travel authority from the Philippine National Police.
The provincial government has warned those who will misrepresent his or her identity, residence and other personal details to obtain a ticket will be blacklisted and subjected to criminal and administrative action.
These special trips have been organized to ensure that LSIs and returning Negrenses will be given priority in all flights before commercial flight operations resume at the Bacolod-Silay Airport.
In preparation for the entry of incoming passengers, thermal scanners and swab-testing booths have been set up at the arrival area of this province’s airport.
Arriving passengers are required to undergo a swab test for COVID-19 before they are endorsed to their respective local government units.(With a report from PNA/PN)
