MGCQ can ‘harmonize’ travel regulations
Placing the entire country under one quarantine classification would allow the DILG to harmonize the fragmented travel regulations across the country
The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) views the easing of quarantine status in the entire country to modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) starting March will address the fragmented travel restrictions imposed by local government units (LGU).
DILG Undersecretary and spokesperson Jonathan Malaya said there is a need to harmonize and streamline different travel restrictions on domestic travels.
“These vary from province to province. Placing the entire country under one quarantine classification would allow the DILG to harmonize the fragmented travel regulations across the country,” he said.
A less restrictive quarantine classification like MGCQ or the harmonization of domestic travel regulations would not mean abandoning health protocols.
He said the DILG sees the urgent need to remove redundancy in domestic tourist travel requirements and impose less stringent requirements by managing coronavirus risks through other means.
The domestic airline industry also asked the DILG to address travel restriction issues because it has accumulated a P47.4 billion net income loss as of September last year.
“Despite the reopening of major regional airports, the domestic airline industry has seen a slump in domestic passengers and domestic cargo due to fragmented LGU regulations. Our Southeast Asian neighbors
like Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand have already revived their domestic travel industry to 2019 levels,” he said.
Malaya said the DILG has organized a technical working group that is currently working with the various local government leagues under the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines to streamline regulations for domestic travel as well as recommend best options to encourage domestic travel for leisure.
“The people are confused about travel regulations because they vary from province to province. While some LGU require a travel authority, some do not. Some LGU require anti-gen test, some do not. Some require swab tests, some do not. Some even require 14-day quarantine regardless of the result. We need the regulations to be streamlined and placing the country under one classification would help in the ongoing harmonization,” Malaya said.
“We need to take a hard look if the
regulations we impose are consistent with scientific data on prevention of Covid-19 transmission.”
Citing figures from the National Economic and Development Authority, he said quarantine restrictions since March 2020 have caused a total income loss of P1.04 trillion last year. On average, it translated to P2.8 billion in salaries lost.
Malaya, however, clarified that a less restrictive quarantine classification like MGCQ or the harmonization of domestic travel regulations would not mean abandoning health protocols in total disregard of the pandemic.
“We’re not saying that we will remove all travel restrictions and go back to where we came from. That’s impossible because Covid-19 is still here. We just need to streamline because we need to revive the economy and address hunger, loss of jobs and economic opportunities that came as a result of the travel restrictions,” he said.