Bacolod City Mayor Evelio Leonardia has approved the lifting of the mandatory negative swab result for all arriving passengers from Negros Oriental and the entire Region 6 who may enter the city.
In an executive order signed by Leonardia, he underscores that “effective immediately and until further advice, any person/individual entering the port/s of Bacolod City/area of the City’s jurisdiction from areas within Region 6 and Negros Oriental are no longer required to present their negative RT-PCR test results. But the provincial government retains its requirement for a negative RT-PCR result for those entering the ports within its jurisdiction.
Leonardia said that those coming from Iloilo are only required to present a valid ID, BacTrac and a copy of their vaccination card for those who had been fully vaccinated and/or have received a booster dose.
For those who remain unvaccinated or have received only the first dose of a 2-dose vaccine series, they shall present at their ports of origin and destination a negative result under Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) certified by the DOH-accredited laboratory that administered the RAT within 24 hours before boarding at their port of origin.
With the revised travel guidelines, fast crafts operating between Bacolod and Iloilo cities are expected to resume their trips soon. Trips between the 2 highly urbanized cities were temporarily suspended following the previous order from both mayors that a negative swab result is required before individuals can board for a travel.
For his part, Mayor Jerry Treñas of Iloilo said that fully vaccinated individuals coming from Bacolod can now enter their city without the need of presenting a negative swab result. But Treñas said, unvaccinated travelers are still required to present a negative result taken 72 hours prior their trip.
