TWO mayors in Cebu support the resumption of domestic flights in Mactan Cebu International Airport (MCIA) under certain conditions.
According to Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Junard Chan, arriving passengers must shoulder the cost of their own Covid-19 if they cannot present a medical certificate from their place of origin indicating that they are free from the coronavirus disease (Covid-19). They also pay for their hotel accommodation while waiting for the test results.
Private individuals may choose their own accommodation and the City will provide a list of hotels where they can stay, including the rates, Chan told SunStar Cebu.
For transit passengers who are negative for Covid-19, Chan said the responsibility to pick them up at the airport rests on local government units.
“As to passengers who have business in Lapu-Lapu that are found to be Covid-19 positive, we will quarantine them in our isolation facility,” Chan said in Cebuano.
Earlier, Chan asked the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (Owwa) to cover the testing and accommodation of repatriated overseas Filipino workers.
Meanwhile, Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella also supports the return of domestic commercial flights as long as health protocol are strictly observed at the airport.
A statement posted on the Department of Transportation website on June 2 said domestic air travel in areas under general community quarantine may resume “provided that the receiving local government units (LGUs) must categorically support it.”
Labella said Cebu City is the gateway to neighboring provinces, and this is why he supports domestic flights resumption.
“It’s one of the factors driving the economy in Cebu City and the Province,” said Labella. (FVQ, JJL, JKV)