WESTERN VISAYAS EXECS DON’T WANT TO REOPEN AIRPORTS, SEAPORTS
CITY —Government officials in Western Visayas asked the national government to stop the resumption of air and sea travel to the region, even if it would already transition to modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) starting on June 1.
Governors and mayors of highly urbanized cities in the region held a teleconference with Interior Secretary Eduardo Año and Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., chief implementer of the COVID-19 National Action Plan, on Friday to express their desire to still ban commercial travel in and out of the region.
Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said Western Visayas officials wanted their airports and seaports to remain off-limits to commercial travel, as there could be resurgence of new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases in Western Visayas if these were to open. Under an MGCQ, all flights would resume but with compliance to health protocols.
Priorities
He said they would propose to the Inter-agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) that only overseas Filipino workers (OFWS), stranded Western Visayas residents, individuals with meritorious reasons and those with medical concerns be allowed to enter the region.
Lacson said he would like to see the return of OFWS and stranded Negrenses to the province before the reopening of commercial travel.
Best effort
“If commercial flights will be opened, we’ll try our best to at least do tests (for COVID-19). Definitely, we cannot hold them anymore in any quarantine area because we’re talking already of thousands every day. We are hoping for the best but just be ready if our wishes will not be granted,” the governor said.
Lacson said he was surprised by Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade’s suggestion that the Bacolod Silay Airport would be opened to international flights.
“We’ve always been wanting to be an international airport but we have been told were not ready for international flights because our runway is not long enough,” he said. “It has to be clarified,” he added.
Lacson will issue a new executive order on Sunday placing Negros Occidental under MGCQ as ordered by President Duterte.
“Under MGCQ, everybody is allowed to go out already, what is important is that as individuals, we have to take care of ourselves and also take care of others, and the most basic is to wear face masks,” he said.