By Glazyl Masculino
BACOLOD CITY - The provincial government of Negros Occidental has facilitated the travel of 84 passengers here after being stranded in Central Luzon due to the enhanced community quarantine implemented by the government to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
(Atty. Rayfrando Diaz II via Glazyl Masculino / MANILA BULLETIN)
The arrival of the Negrense passengers came after Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson wrote a letter to the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP), appealing for the return of the local residents who were stranded at the Clark International Airport, following the suspension of land, sea and air travels amid the threat of COVID-19.
Board Member Ryan Gamboa and Provincial Administrator Atty. Rayfrando Diaz welcomed the Negrense passengers at the Bacolod-Silay Airport on Thursday.
They were ferried here on a special Cebu Pacific flight from Clark.
Gamboa said that these passengers will be considered persons under monitoring (PUMs), and will undergo mandatory 14-day quarantine at the provincial government-owned Mambukal Resort in Murcia town.
Health workers and policemen were assigned in the area to enforce quarantine to the PUMs who are not allowed to go out or accept visitors while under strict monitoring, he said.
The resort halted its operation effective Wednesday to accommodate them for quarantine. It will not accept reservations and will resume operation until further notice.
Meanwhile, Gamboa said that about 40 passengers who were stranded in the province were also made to board on the return flight of the same plane.