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Manila Bulletin

Philippines

Iloilo City-Bacolod City sea travel stops anew

Philippines

Iloilo City-Bacolod City sea travel stops anew

By Tara Yap

ILOILO CITY — The threat of COVID-19’s Omicron variant has stopped anew sea trips between Iloilo City and Bacolod City.

This was following the reinstatement of COVID-19 swab tests by the local government units (LGUs) of Iloilo City and Bacolod City for residents of both cities.

Boats are at rest at a wharf in Iloilo City that caters to trips bound for Bacolod City. (Tara Yap/Manila Bulletin)

But it was the call of fast craft companies to temporarily stop travel since Monday, January 10, given the new protocols.

“Dear Jetters, kindly advise that trips from Bacolod to Iloilo and vice versa are temporarily suspended until further notice due to travel restrictions imposed by Bacolod and Iloilo LGUs,” said OceanJet in a Facebook post.

This also applied to Weesam fast crafts as there were hardly any passengers.

Initially, it was Mayor Evelio Leonardia of Bacolod City who issued an executive order that incoming travelers must show they are not infected with COVID-19 via swab tests. The protocol include those who are coming from Iloilo City, which is the regional capital of Western Visayas.

Because of Leonardia’s order, Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas also required a negative swab test result for travelers coming from Bacolod City.

Previously, there was a standing agreement among LGUs in Western Visayas that no swab tests needed for intra-regional travel.

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