AFTER urging the Inter-Agency Task Force Davao to review the current cross-border travel policies in Davao City, the chairperson of the committee on tourism and beautification of the Davao City Council said it already reached the cabinet.
“Gibalita sa ato ni City Health Officer Dr. Ashley Lopez nga gituki sa Cabinet Meeting ang atong hangyo nga mareview ang Cross-Border Travel Policies alang sa mga unvaccinated foreign nationals na musulod sa Davao city (Our call for a review of the cross-border travel policies have been discussed in the cabinet meeting according to our City Health Officer Dr. Ashley Lopez),” Councilor Al Ryan Alejandre said in a Facebook post on October 25, 2022.
Alejandre recently raised his concerns about the current cross-border travel policies in the city when a prospective Australian investor was not able to enter the city despite presenting a negative R-PCR result 48 hours before his arrival.
“He was immediately deported as advised by the Bureau of Quarantine (BOQ) because he was unvaccinated,” Alejandre said.
Alejandre said BOQ based their decision on the IATF Resolution No. 168, Series of 2022, which states that “unvaccinated foreign nationals shall be denied admission into the country and shall be subjected to the appropriate exclusion proceeding.”
BOQ stood firm with their decision and explained that this situation could have been avoided if the airline had filtered their passengers from the point of origin before they would be allowed to fly in Davao City.
“They are already informed regarding this one, a memorandum was already released, however, of course hindi natin maiwasan na may napapalusot (we can’t avoid that someone will still get through the protocol),” Dr. Noreen Esperon, Officer-in-Charge of BOQ Davao, said.
Esperon said although there is no mentioned LGU acceptance letter in the IATF Resolution to allow foreign nationals to get inside the city, they could still consider it but the LGU will be held liable.
“There are certain reasons for these people coming here, but we consider that, but please provide it that the LGU is aware na may papasok na unvaccinated,” Esperon said.
She said LGU should be fully aware of the situation of the foreign nationals.
“LGU is aware that they should have followed the protocol based on IATF, that a-attend ito ng kasal or meeting which is super spreader kasi maraming tao, we don’t want to repeat the poblacion girl in Manila in reference na party yong pinuntahan niya,” Esperon said.
But Esperon said in respect to investors and VIPs, LGU can provide this acceptance letter.
“All BOQ want is, give us an LGU acceptance taking responsibility kung ano man ang magiging manyari,” Esperon said.
However, Dr. Kristy June Dayanan, Emerging and Re-emerging Infectious Diseases Program Manager of the City Epidemiology Surveillance and Disaster Response Unit of the City Health Office, said the city should not be complacent with health protocols.
“Kasi kung sabihin nating relax open na tayo sa lahat (When we say to be relaxed that means we are open to anything). We still have to consider some health protocols to follow and maybe consider some of the circumstances of the clients,” Dayanan said.
Meanwhile, Alejandre said people will have to wait for the decision of the IATF.
“Atong paabuton ang ipagawas na Executive Order sa Malacañang kabahin niini base sa mahimong rekomendasyon sa IATF (We’ll have to wait for Malacañang’s Executive Order with regards to this concern),” Alejandre said. KSD