Bacolod travelers from Manila will no longer be required to present a negative RT-PCR test result upon arrival at the Bacolod-Silay Airport, effective Feb. 1, the city said.Bacolod City Mayor Evelio Leonardia thanked Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson for acting favorably on the request of Bacolod to lift the negative RT-PCR requirement.
Leonardia said that all travelers from outside Western Visayas and Negros Oriental will now be required to present a negative Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) result regardless of vaccination status, instead of the costlier RT-PCR result.
The RAT should be taken within 48 hours prior to travel to Bacolod, and certified only by a clinic or laboratory accredited by the Department of Health, he added.
The mayor said this was the agreement reached between him and Lacson in a virtual meeting via Zoom this afternoon, Jan. 28.
Lacson said he wants to be assured that the RAT results are done and certified by a DOH-accredited lab because anyone can make a self-test once they have the kit.
La Carlota City Mayor Rex Jalandoon, a doctor by profession, assured those in attendance at the virtual meeting that a RAT result has a very high accuracy rate and, therefore, reliable as alternative to the RT-PCR.
But Lacson said that when there is any doubt as to the authenticity of the RAT result presented by Bacolod passengers, the provincial government is willing to conduct a new test at the airport, even at the expense of Capitol, a press release from the city said.
The virtual meeting was attended by mayors of towns and cities of Negros Occidental, members of the Provincial Incident Management Team under Provincial Administrator, Atty. Rayfrando Diaz, and the Bacolod Emergency Operations Center, led by executive director and former councilor Em Legaspi-Ang, who presented the city’s proposal.
Leonardia was also joined by Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran, councilors Cindy Tan-Rojas, Renecito Novero, and Israel Salanga, EOC deputy Dr. Chris Sorongon, and Dr. Edwin Miraflor Jr., officer-in-charge of the City Health Office.
Bacolod earlier lifted the negative RT-PCR requirement for inbound travelers from Region 6 and Negros Oriental, and passengers from these areas need only to present their full vaccination card, ID, and BaCTrac.
Leonardia wrote Lacson Jan. 22 in a bid to harmonize the city and province’s guidelines to ensure safe, easy, and convenient travel to Bacolod. | MML
