Isko backs ‘Family Day’ proposal to open tourism

THE Manila City government “supports” the Department of Tourism’s (DoT) suggestion of opening the city’s parks and tourism sites to people of all ages in the designated “Family Day,” its mayor said on Friday.

Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso said the Family Day — a proposed designated day to open parks and other tourist sites in Intramuros once a week for all ages — will help bolster local tourism, which have been profoundly affected by the new strain of Covid-19.

"Of course, we want to support [domestic] tourism, especially now,” the local chief executive said during a radio DZMM interview when asked on the DoT’s proposal. “We have persevered for 11 months, and I think a few days will not harm.”

He added that Intramuros provides the open space for people to go, not to mention a chance to reconnect with the past.

Earlier, Tourism chief Bernadette Romulo-Puyat took note of the reopening of Intramuros and is proposing a "no age restriction policy" for the walled city's visitors.

Intramuros sites Fort Santiago, Casa Manila Museum and Baluarte de San Diego have been opened since February 17 but only for tourists between the ages of 15 and 65.

Guidelines from the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATFEID) indicated that those below 15 years old and elderly above 65 years old are required to stay home except for essential activities in places under general community quarantine (GCQ).

Metro Manila has been under GCQ since August last year, with stricter community quarantine enforced in earlier months amid a rise in infections of Covid-19 among the local population.

As of Friday, Manila has logged a total of 27,897 cases of the new coronavirus, including 437 active cases, 26,656 recoveries and 804 deaths.