Bacolod City – With the retention of Negros Occidental under Alert Level 2, all inbound passengers are still required to register into S-PaSS, and present vaccination cards or certificates, since the Bacolod-Silay Airport is situated in the province according to Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson.
The highly-urbanized Bacolod City, however, has been downgraded to Alert Level 1, starting March 1 to 15, by the Inter Agency Task Force.
Lacson said it will not cause any hassle to travelers if they are fully vaccinated. “There will be no inconvenience for them,” he stressed.
S-PaSS is a travel management system developed by the Department of Science and Technology to facilitate local travel nationwide.
Partially or unvaccinated travelers are also required to present non-reactive rapid antigen test result, 48 hours prior to travel, Lacson said, in his issued executive order extending the Alert Level 2 status of Negros Occidental, said.
He added that the provincial government is still offering free rapid antigen test to arriving travelers, if they fail to secure such from their point of origin.
Starting March 1, Lacson also confirmed yesterday that there will be an increase of flights from Manila and Cebu to Bacolod City.
Philippine Air Lines and Cebu Pacific will have three flights per day for Manila-Bacolod-Manila, and four flights for Cebu-Bacolod-Cebu per week for Cebu Pacific and three flights weekly for PAL.
Air Asia, on the other hand, will maintain two flights per day for Manila-Bacolod-Manila, he added.
As to the seaport operations and guidelines, Lacson said sea vessels shall be allowed to admit passengers up to 50 percent of its capacity limit.
As of February 27, the COVID-19 active cases in Negros Occidental further reduced to 336, from its peak of more than 3,600 three weeks ago.
Lacson reiterated his warning to travelers with fake documents will be apprehended, made to undergo a 10-day quarantine at the Provincial Healing Center, and will shoulder the cost of RT-PCR testing at their own expense. (Gilbert Bayoran via The Visayan Daily Star (TVDS), photo courtesy of TVDS)
