DOT to give freebies to fully vaxxed visitors of Intramuros
MANILA, Philippines — In a bid to promote the country’s vaccination program, the Department of Tourism on Friday announced that it would grant incentives to fully vaccinated visitors of Intramuros.
From November 15 to 30, visitors of the Walled City who have received a complete dose of COVID-19 jabs within the same period may be allowed free entry to Fort Santiago.
On the same period, fully vaccinated guests who would visit Fort Santiago and Baluarte San Diego will receive free limited-edition Beep cards with Intramuros branding.
Beep cards are reloadable and could be used when commuting via Light Rail Transit and buses.
Only the first 50 fully vaxxed visitors would be given the limited-edition Beep card a day.
Interested fully vaccinated tourists should present their vaccination card or certificate, with dates indicating the covered period November 15 to 30, at the entrance.
Visitors who have yet to complete their COVID-19 shot are still allowed to visit Fort Santiago and Baluarte San Diego with P75 entrance fee for regular visitors, and P50 pesos for discounted eligible visitors such as seniors, students and persons with disability.
Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat is hopeful that providing these freebies to fully vaccinated visitors would encourage more people to receive COVID-19 jabs.
"The Department is doing whatever it can to aid the government's vaccination program. Granting incentives is one way to encourage the undecided to oblige in this nationwide effort," Puyat said.
Three Intramuros sites namely Fort Santiago, Baluarte de San Diego and Plaza San Luis reopened to the public with limited capacity and shortened operating hours in September when the National Capital Region was placed under Alert Level 4 of general community quarantine.
The NCR last week shifted to a more relaxed Alert Level 2 GCQ.
As of November 12, here are the updated schedules and guidelines of Intramuros sites, according to Intramuros Administration:
As early as September, the DOT already reported that 100% of Intramuros Administrator workers including outsourced security and janitorial staff have already completed their COVID-19 vaccination to ensure the safety of both employees and visitors of the Walled City.
