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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider 'Health, safety top priorities in Boracay reopening,' says Sen. Binay

'Health, safety top priorities in Boracay reopening,' says Sen. Binay

Published Sep 28, 2020 05:25 pm

Senator Nancy Binay on Monday urged the government to ensure that health and safety protocols are in place as Boracay reopens its doors to local tourists on October 1.

Senator Nancy Binay
(Senate of the Philippines / FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)

Binay said the Department of Tourism (DOT) and the local government unit of Malay, Aklan where Boracay island is located, should tighten health protocols to ensure the safety of all tourists and other stakeholders in this reopening from the threat of COVID-19.

“While we recognize that this is a step towards getting the tourism sector and our economy back on track, we would like to remind the DOT and would-be travellers that health and safety should always be our first priority,” Binay said.

“Tingnan din natin ang experience ng Croatia at Vietnam (We should also look at the experience of Croatia and Vietnam. Perhaps we can learn many lessons from them on why the decision to open the borders to visitors could trigger a resurgence of COVID-19 cases,” she said.

At the same time, Binay expressed concern as to why the DOT is not imposing any age restrictions and is allowing tourists of all ages to enter the island. She said this is inconsistent with the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) suggestion that minors and senior citizens should stay at home while in general community quarantine (GC) or modified GCQ.

“How do we make our messaging clear to the public when government health and safety policies are disconnected and disjointed among government agencies?” she pointed out.

“As we have seen, the local government units (LGUs) have their own guidelines that are sometimes different from the IATF. This makes it very confusing for those who want to travel,” the senator stressed.

She said traveling is still a major virus carrier, and LGUs must be knowledgeable on how to handle the influx of tourists, especially with an ongoing pandemic.

The DOT had earlier announced that Boracay island will accept visitors again from all over the country starting October. According to the DOT, it will implement a “test before travel” rule requiring all visitors to have a negative result of reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) 48 to 72 hours prior to traveling to Boracay Island.

According to the DOT, travelers aged below 21 and above 60 years can travel to Boracay as long as they have no comorbidity or adverse health conditions.

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