MANILA, Philippines — Rizal Park and three Intramuros sites are scheduled to reopen on Thursday, September 16 amid the easement of restrictions in the National Capital Region and shift to general community quarantine with Alert Level 4.
Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat made the announcement on Wednesday. She said that the national park and three sites in Intramuros namely Fort Santiago Baluarte de San Diego and Plaza San Luis would reopen under limited capacity and shortened operating hours.
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Only visitors aged 18 to 65 shall be allowed to enter the sites set to reopen.
Rizal Park would open its doors from 5 a.m. to 9 a.m. with a maximum capacity of 500 visitors at any given time.
On the other hand, Fort Santiago will be open from 9 a.m. until 7:30 p.m. from Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays, with a maximum capacity of 150 visitors at any given time.
Baluarte de San Diego, meanwhile, is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. with a maximum capacity of 80 people at a time.
The entrance fee for both sides remain at P75 and P50 for regular visitors and discounted patrons which include senior citizens, students and persons with disability.
Plaza San Luis would be open to the public from within the age limit from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.
The DOT advised those who wish to visit Rizal Park to download the Staysafe app for faster entry to park premises. However, there are still manual contact tracing forms for visitors without access to mobile phones.
“The reopening of Fort Santiago, Baluarte San Diego and Plaza San Luis will allow visitors to again experience 2020's Asia and world's leading tourist attraction as recognized by the World Travel Awards. But we continuously urge our tourists to strictly adhere to the health and safety protocols to sustain the resumption of tourism in the country,” Puyat said.
To encourage vaccination among NCR residents, the DOT through its attached agency Intramuros Administration would install an express lane dedicated to fully-vaccinated individuals in Fort Santiago and Baluerte San Diego.
The DOT said fully-vaccinated visitors who would enter via the express lane would be allowed to fill out the mandatory contact tracing form when inside the sites and only need to present it to the security personnel before exit.
However, the tourism agency reminded the public that all visitors would still be required to undergo temperature checks at the sites’ entrance. They are also asked to observe minimum health protocols such as wearing of face masks and face shields, proper physical distancing and washing of hands.
Intramuros Administration also posted the guidelines and schedule on its Facebook page.
Meanwhile, as of September 14, the DOT chief reported that 99% of the Intramuros Administration workers, including the outsourced security and janitorial personals have been fully vaccinated. On the other hand, more than 96% of all staff deployed at the Rizal Park are also fully vaccinated.
“Time and again, we are reminding everyone to strictly follow the health and safety protocols when visiting Rizal Park, Intramuros, and other tourist sites and destinations that have reopened, and get vaccinated when the opportunity comes. By doing so, not only can you protect yourself, but you are also keeping the workers who rely on tourism safe from the virus, too,” Puyat said.