Garcia asks CAB to lift limit of airport’s international arrivals

CEBU, Philippines —  Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia has asked the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) to lift its arriving international passengers limit per day at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA).

CAB issued an advisory last May 12, 2021 limiting the number of international passengers to 300 following the recommendation of the Regional Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases.

The RIATF-MEID has issued a resolution recommending the limitation of international flight arrivals because the quarantine facilities intended for overseas Filipinos were reportedly nearing full capacity.

This also forced the MCIA to temporarily stop accepting international flights last May 12 to 15.

In a Sugbo News report, the Capitol's news arm, Garcia formally sent a letter to CAB requesting the lifting of the said limitation and revoked its previously issued advisory.

Garcia said that with her newly issued travel protocols for overseas Filipino workers (OFW) and returning overseas Filipinos (ROF) that do not require them to stay at the quarantine hotels for up to 10 days has addressed the problem.

The recent order from Garcia requires OFWs and ROFs to undergo RT-PCR test upon arrival at the airport, and  will just wait up to two to three days only for their result, before they will be allowed to go home if they tested negative and on the seventh day of their home quarantine, they will be subject for another swab test.

OFWs and ROFs who are non-Cebu residents will be subject to their respective LGU of destination protocols.

The measure is said to address the problem of full occupation of quarantine hotels and that it is just right to accept more flights and passengers since the number of overseas Filipinos staying at the said hotels are decreasing.

Garcia pointed out also that lifting the CAB's order would also help the airline industry.

“First of all, this will help our airline industry, which needs more flights to help our airport that has been in the doldrums with practically no activity. This will also help our OFWs and ROFs, who are scrambling for seat availability,” Garcia said in the report of Sugbo News. — GMR (FREEMAN)