BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – While the resumption of ferry trips between the cities of Bacolod and Iloilo without the need for swab tests is being deliberated, Negros Occidental’s Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson is making it clear he is not keen on ditching such travel requirement yet.
Though ferry trips between Negros Occidental and Panay Island are most welcome, he would still require province-bound travelers to present negative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test results.
The governor is adamant about retaining the requirement because coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases in the province have not slowed.
Earlier, Bacolod City’s Emergency Operations Center considered resuming ferry trips with Iloilo City following months of suspension due to COVID-19.
In an interview over Brigada News FM-Bacolod on Monday, Weesam Express operator Frank Carbon was hopeful that with the recent downgrading of Iloilo City to heightened general community quarantine – same with Bacolod’s quarantine level – trips between the two cities could resume.
Carbon proposed that instead of a negative RT-PCR test, a vaccination card should be the requirement when entering or exiting the two cities./PN
