By Antonio Colina IV
DAVAO CITY – Davao City mayor Sara Duterte has told the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) to allow more commercial flights from Manila to Davao City as the number of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases in the city has started to become “manageable.”
Duterte said, during her interview over Davao City Disaster Radio (DCDR 87.5), that she has seen a high demand for Manila-Davao-Manila flights.
Several returning passengers have been stranded in Manila for several months amid the lockdown in several parts of the country during the period of enhanced community quarantine, and even after the national government eased the travel restrictions early this month.
She said domestic commercial flights resumed last June 8.
City Tourism Office Generose Tecson said in a text message that Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific, and AirAsia have resumed once weekly commercial flights to Davao coming from Manila, Cebu, and Clark in Pampanga.
Duterte said international flights were supposed to resume last June 22, but airline companies like Cebu Pacific and SilkAir, which service Davao-Singapore-Davao, and Cathay Dragon, servicing Davao-Hong Kong-Davao have decided to cancel their flights until end of July 2020.
“Ngano? wala ko kahibalo. Wala sila ang hatag og reason (As to why? I don’t know. They did not give the reason why),” she said.
Duterte ordered the suspension of domestic and international flights effective immediately in pursuance of Presidential Proclamation 922 placing the country “in a state of public health emergency in relation to national security” last March.
As of June 22, Department of Health-Davao reported 474 (COVID-19) cases in the region: 389 Davao City, 29 Davao del Norte, 20 Davao del Sur, 11 Davao de Oro, 21 Davao Oriental, and four Davao Occidental.