NEGROS Occidental is ready to accept fully vaccinated travelers without the need for a reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test in case the national government gives a go signal or approves its implementation, an official said.
Provincial Administrator lawyer Rayfrando Diaz II Wednesday, September 29, 2021, said proposals have been forwarded to the National Inter-Agency Task Force (NIATF) to start easing domestic travels in the country in order to further open up the economy.
Diaz said the province is ready since the quick response (QR) coded vaccination cards are already available.
He said the province has already registered a substantial number of vaccinees based on their monitoring system and the vaccine identification cards have already been distributed to them.
The provincial administrator stressed that they were previously concerned that vaccination cards could be faked but the issue seems to have been resolved already considering that QR codes are already embedded on the vaccination cards issued.
Earlier, Philippine Airlines has again contacted the provincial government to introduce passenger flights that can only be occupied by fully vaccinated individuals and the removal of RT-PCR test requirements prior to or after arrival.
Early this week, presidential adviser for entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion said governors from different provinces in the country are now open to the possibility of easing restrictions for domestic air travel for fully inoculated individuals in order to boost tourism activities.
Aside from the Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific and AirAsia Philippines also called on the national government to lessen quarantine days for international travelers and for removing RT-PCR test requirements for those who are fully vaccinated.