NEGROS Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson laid down protocols that will govern entry of all persons into the province via airport and seaports starting June 1.
Lacson presented the protocols in his letter to concerned government agencies such as the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, Maritime Industry Authority, Philippine Ports Authority and Philippine Coast Guard.
He made the move as the province is bracing for no “CQ” or community quarantine starting June 1.
The protocols presented by Lacson to the said agencies include number of incoming passengers that shall be based on the available quarantine rooms determined by the Provincial Health Office; All incoming passengers shall agree to stay at designated quarantine facilities until they are released based on their Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) test results; With the fully operational Molecular Laboratory at Teresita Locsin Jalandoni Provincial Hospital (TLJPH), holding time of passengers shall be from one day to two days; Tickets for airlines and sea vessels/roll-on roll-off (RORO)/ fastcraft shall be sold only to persons listed on the Certificate of Acceptance issued by the Provincial Government of Negros Occidental.
Priority shall be given to the following passengers during the 1st phase of the new normal: Returning Negrense residents; and workforce of essential businesses allowed to operate during general community quarantine (GCQ) as per Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) Resolution No. 30, series of 2020 and Provincial Executive Order No. 20-23, series of 2020.
Certificates of acceptance shall be single use, date specific, and shall be granted once per month, except for emergency reasons.
Considering the need for a data tracking system and health monitoring of incoming passengers, the Provincial Health Office and the Negros Occidental Tourism Division will be requiring incoming passengers to fill up a Tourist Information and Health Declaration Card before leaving the airport/seaport terminal. The filled-up forms will be collected at the Tourist Information Counter and to be encoded by the Negros Occidental Tourism Office representatives.
The said agencies have granted the request of Lacson to postpone the resumption of airport and seaports operation until May 31.