THE Provincial Government of Misamis Oriental has set the guidelines for persons traveling through air and sea transportation for the entire general community quarantine period in the province.
Governor Yevgeny Emano issued an executive order to strengthen even more the effort of preventing any positive case of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) from occurring in Misamis Oriental.
“There is a need to regulate the movement of persons who come to or go out of the province via air and sea travel,” the order said.
The order said any agency, office or airline company requesting for a sweeper flight must submit a letter in coordination with the Department of Tourism (DOT)-Northern Mindanao and will be approved by the mayor of Laguindingan town and the governor.
Only the pilot/s and crew must board the aircraft that will carry out the sweeper flight from the airport of origin and will not be allowed to go out of the premises upon arrival at the Laguindingan Airport.
Only stranded foreigners, permanent residents of other countries and/or overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who have scheduled flights abroad and stranded domestic tourists can avail of a sweeper flight from Laguindingan Airport, provided that their travel details have been reported to the DOT-Northern Mindanao.
The DOT facilitates coordination on the flight with the airline company for sweeper flight requests; Department of Health-Northern Mindanao for health clearance; Department of Foreign Affairs, in case of requests for repatriation from foreign embassies; Bureau of Immigration (BOI) to check whether passengers have no pending criminal case/s in the Philippines; Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP)-Laguindingan Airport for aircraft landing and takeoff clearance, and Airport Police coordination; PNP to make sure passengers are escorted to Laguindingan Airport; and Municipal Health Office of Laguindingan town for profiling purposes.
Confirmed passengers, coming from provinces outside Misamis Oriental, of a sweeper flight leaving Laguindingan Airport must travel as a group and be escorted by the police assigned therein.
Upon arrival at the Magsaysay, Lugait or Opol quarantine control points, as the case may be, they shall be turned over to the the Misamis Oriental PNP personnel and required to undergo the established health protocol, after which they shall be escorted straight to Laguindingan Airport.
The vehicle transporting the said passengers must return immediately back to its place of origin and escorted by the Misamis Oriental PNP personnel until Magsaysay, Lugait, or Opol control point.
The guidelines also said no cargo aircraft coming to Laguindingan airport or cargo vessel coming to any seaport in the province shall carry any passenger unless he/she is authorized by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) and there is prior coordination with the CAAP-Laguindingan Airport or Philippine Coast Guard-Northern Mindanao District.
Upon arrival at the said airport or seaport, the said passenger must present requirements before disembarking the aircraft or vessel such as original copy of his/her Covid-19 test result, which must be negative, in applicable cases, at the discretion of the Provincial Health Office of Misamis Oriental.
Other requirements include clearance from the BHERT of the Barangay where he/she resides; travel clearance from the City Health Office/town health office where he resides or stranded; manifest, showing that he/she is included in the travel; and acceptance letter from the receiving local government unit.
At the arrival area of the airport or seaport, the passenger must submit himself to the DOH and LGU personnel assigned therein for compliance with the established health protocol and profiling purposes.
The accepting LGU must make sure he is received at the said airport or seaport and transported straight to his residence where he must be self-quarantined for 14 days.