Batangas restricts leisure travel to areas near Taal Volcano
BATANGAS, Philippines — Batangas Gov. Hermilando Mandanas issued Friday a memorandum restricting leisure travel in high-risk areas located within the 7-kilometer radius from the Taal Volcano crater.
Memorandum Circular No. 01 Series of 2021 prohibits leisure travel to Barangays Banyaga and Bilibinwang in Agoncillo town and Barangays Buso-buso, Gulod and Bugaan East in the town of Laurel.
Prohibited activities include staycations, going to a recreational area, resort, camping, sunbathing, pool swimming, picknicking, island hopping, group water activities, partying and merriment events and other similar activities, the provincial government said.
Existing hotel or resort reservations or accommodation bookings in high-risk areas shall be cancelled and tourism establishments are encouraged to give a refund or allow rebooking of reservations of leisure guests.
Exempted from this prohibition are Department of Tourism-accredited establishments authorized to accommodate guests and clients for legitimate purposes under a state of public emergency.
Mandanas said only essential travel into and out of the high-risk areas shall be allowed. These shall be limited to health and frontline service personnel, humanitarian or medical response operation, and accessing basic goods and services.
All non-essential travel shall require the use of Safe, Swift, and Smart Passage (S-PaSS) Travel Management System of the Department Of Science and Technology (DOST) as an approved uniform travel protocol for all local government units (LGUs).
Meanwhile, accredited accommodation establishments in other Batangas within 14 kilometers of the volcano shall continue to operate at a limited capacity unless evacuation is ordered.
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