CEBU CITY--The Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) will be limiting the arrival of unvaccinated foreigners to 1,000 a day, effective March 1.
This was agreed to in a meeting between Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia and MCIA General Manager Julius Neri Jr.
The governor said placing a cap on the arrivals of unvaccinated foreigners "is in consideration of the availability of hotel rooms."
"The availability of hotel rooms has to be ensured as arriving unvaccinated foreigners will have to undergo a mandatory five-day quarantine," the governor said.
Garcia is allowing the entry of unvaccinated foreigners into Cebu saying it is allowed under the recently issued Inter-Agency Task Force resolution.
Under Garcia’s Executive Order No.3-2022, unvaccinated foreign tourists may enter Cebu subject to a negative RT-PCR test before travelling, swab upon arrival, and, a facility-based quarantine with another swab test on the fifth day.
Garcia said there will be no cap for fully vaccinated travelers as they are not required to undergo mandatory quarantine.
She said it has been noted that arrivals of foreigners have yet to pick up after the country eased up its travel protocols last February 10.
The governor is confident that foreign arrivals will soon pick up especially since Philippine Airlines decided to resume its direct flights from Los Angeles to Cebu by March.
For domestic travelers, figures are on the upward trend as more Cebu-bound flights have increased, Garcia said.