IATF proposes limit on inbound passengers

MANILA, Philippines — The government’s anti-COVID-19 task force has proposed to limit the number of inbound passengers as the country grapples with a surge in COVID infections and the emergence of more infectious variants of the virus.

National Task Force Against COVID-19 chief Carlito Galvez Jr. said the recommendation is to limit the number of inbound passengers to 1,500 returning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) per day.

Galvez said foreigners and non-essential travelers would be banned for two weeks to prevent the entry of new COVID variants.

“Our recommendation is that only 1,500 returning OFWs, considering we have seen a rise in the cases of new variants,” Galvez said at a press briefing yesterday.?“We have seen OFWs, ROFs (returning overseas Filipinos) and foreigners coming in so we decided to restrict our inbound passengers,” he said.?Galvez said members of the task force discussed the travel restriction during a recent emergency meeting.

Canceled

As the government proposed to slash by half the number of inbound arrivals at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), airline companies are ready to cancel several international flights to and from Manila over the next month.

The Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) said international inbound arrivals at NAIA would be limited to a maximum of 1,500 passengers per day for all airlines combined from March 18 to April 19.

NAIA’s current inbound international capacity is at 3,000 passengers daily, according to the Manila International Airport Authority.

“Airlines operating at NAIA that will exceed the allowed capacity will be penalized based on a memorandum circular issued by the Manila International Airport Authority, Clark International Airport Corp., Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines as well as the CAB,” a CAB advisory read.

Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) said carriers would need to cancel a number of international flights to and from Manila during the said period in compliance with the restriction.

PAL said it would operate its full international schedule for March 18, but any flight cancellation on other days for the one-month period would be announced later.

The CAB advised airlines to comply with the directives of the Bureau of Immigration on essential inbound travelers that would be allowed entry into the country.

PAL said certain passenger types would need to postpone their travel to Manila until after the stated period.

The Philippines has been posting more than 4,000 new COVID cases daily in the past few days, prompting the government to intensify the enforcement of safety and health protocols.

Officials linked the spikes to the emergence of more infectious variants to the easing of quarantine restrictions and less compliance with safety measures.

The Philippines has logged more than 631,000 cases as of yesterday with about 12,000 deaths.

Meanwhile, Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto urged the government to release daily reports on the number of people who have been vaccinated.

“This is the national scoreboard that will tell us how far we are into our vaccination goal and how fast we are doing it,” Recto said.

“This can be incorporated into the daily COVID reports of the DOH. If we tally deaths, we should also tally the lives saved,” he said, referring to the Department of Health.

The daily vaccination report must include a breakdown by region and age group, if possible, he said.

Having this granular data is important in mapping out moves against the virus. It is also the database that forms the backbone of the national vaccine passport information system, Recto said.

Cebu ready for tourists

Meanwhile, tourism firms based in Cebu are planning to ask the government to allow the entry of foreign travelers to the province, noting they are ready to welcome visitors even as COVID cases are increasing nationwide.

Cebu is all geared up to welcome foreign tourists back to its land, Aines Librodo, airline marketing and tourism development head of the GMR-Megawide Cebu Airport Corp. (GMCAC), said yesterday.

Librodo said the provincial government, in coordination with local leaders, has put in place necessary health protocols to prevent a surge in COVID cases should Cebu secure approval for the entry of foreign travelers.

GMCAC operates the Mactan-Cebu International Airport that serves flights to some of the country’s top origins for visitors such as Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan.

“As a destination, Cebu is ready. We have one year to prepare,” Librodo said.

“The airport is ready. We have implemented the safety protocols mandated by the IATF and the local government units. The LGUs are ready. The accommodations, the hotels, the resorts, the restaurants, the attractions, they are ready,” she said, referring to the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases.

Librodo said the only thing missing now is an appeal for the IATF policymakers to allow Cebu to host the entry of foreign tourists. She said the provincial and local governments as well as the stakeholders would sustain its dialogue with the committee on the matter.

Librodo said most of the countries where Cebu-bound tourists usually come from – including the US, China and South Korea – have rolled out their vaccination program. She said there should be less risk of the tourists spreading the virus when they arrive in the province.

Before the pandemic, Cebu was the second most preferred destination of foreign guests.

Data showed the province welcomed 1.4 million foreign visitors in 2019, behind by only 200,000 travelers to Boracay. – Paolo Romero, Richmond Mercurio, Rudy Santos, Elijah Felice Rosales