NegOr to open domestic flights if IATF grants request of mayors

DUMAGUETE CITY, June 8 (PIA) -- Domestic flights bound for Negros Oriental will open once again if the national government will grant the request of all Local Chief Executives (LCEs) here to implement additional requirements for individuals who would like to come to the province.

Provincial COVID-19 Task Force Executive Director Adrian Sedillo shares an update on the opening of domestic flights bound for Negros Oriental during a press briefing held at the Negros Oriental Convention Center on June 5, 2020. Sedillo noted that local chief executives have requested the national government to allow them to implement additional requirements for individuals returning to Negros Oriental as part of the safety nets in their preparedness measures. (PIA7-NegOr) 

On June 5, LCEs here led by Gov. Roel Degamo passed a resolution asking the national government to allow the Local Government Units (LGUs) to require incoming passengers, including Locally Stranded Individuals (LSIs) and returning Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs), to secure a certificate of acceptance from their home LGU, a latest RT-PCR test with negative result, and a certificate proving they have completed the 14-day quarantine before they would be allowed to enter the province again.

Aside from this, they should also be willing to be placed under a 14-day quarantine in the designated quarantine facility of the local government upon their arrival.

This is on top of the health certificate citing a person is fit to travel and the travel authority documents which a travelling person must secure before going back to their places of origin.

Provincial COVID-19 Task Force Executive Director Adrian Sedillo disclosed that LCEs here recognized the need to enforce stricter measures for incoming passengers especially since new confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection were recorded in the province last week.

Most of these individuals are LSIs and all of them are asymptomatic.   

Sedillo reiterated Degamo’s earlier pronouncement that LSIs and returning OFWs are not denied from returning to Negros Oriental but there is also the need to protect the residents of the province. 

The Provincial Covid-19 Task Force executive director also clarified that the provincial government and the LCEs in the province are not against the directive of the national government but they have all agreed that additional safety nets must be put in place to protect the citizens living in Negros Oriental.

“With this recent development, nagkasabot ang atoang mga mayor together with the governor and the provincial Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) na mahangyo ta sa national na kagamhanan through the national IATF na i-consider ang atong mga gisugyot na additional requirements para nato mabutangan ug additional safety nets ang atong mga gihimo na pagpangandam dinhi sa lalawigan (With this development, all the mayors together with the governor and the provincial IATF have agreed to make an appeal to the national government, through the national IATF, to allow us to enforce these additional requirements so that we can put additional safety nets in our preparedness measures),” Sedillo said.

“While we do not discriminate our fellow Negrenses na mopauli, kinahanglan siguro mabutangan siya ug additional guidelines (While we do not discriminate our fellow Negrenses who would like to come home, I think additional guidelines must be put in place),” Sedillo added.

Sedillo noted that the said requirements were already stipulated in an executive order issued by Degamo, as chair of the provincial IATF.

However, it was overruled by a directive issued by the national IATF governing individuals returning to their domicile.

Once the national IATF grants the request of LCEs here, they will meet again to finalize the details of the guidelines and discuss the possible opening of domestic flights.

On the opening of commercial flights, Sedillo explained that while domestic flights going to and from areas placed under General Community Quarantine (GCQ) are allowed, airline companies are soliciting approval and concurrence from local government units regarding the resumption of flights.

“While ang mga airline companies nagdawat na sila ug bookings, namaligya na sila ug ticket, nahulat na sila. Giklaro na sa Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) na kana mga schedules are subject for the approval of the LGU (While airline companies are starting to accept bookings and sell tickets, they are still waiting for the approval of the LGU. The CAAP also clarified that schedules of flights should be approved by the LGU),” Sedillo elaborated.

CAAP Negros Oriental and Airport Manager Mark Dimaoden, who was also present at the meeting of the mayors, said flight conditions and advisories from LGUs will be sent to airline companies for their guidance. (ral/PIA7-Negros Oriental)

source https://pia.gov.ph/news/articles/1044109