Business as usual: Sen. Nancy Binay reviews documents before the Senate resumes its session Monday, May 4, 2020. (Henzberg Austria/Senate PRIB)
MANILA, Philippines — Philippines must not accept foreign tourists yet without fixing the country’s protocols against COVID-19 pandemic particularly its testing capacity, Senator Nancy Binay said Saturday.
“Ang number one carrier ng virus e yung traveling kaya nga para sa’kin hangga’t hindi natin naaayos yung pagka-quarantine, yung protocols kapag nag-land dito yung testing e, huwag na muna,” Binay, chairwoman of Senate committee on tourism, said over DWIZ when asked if tourism in the Philippines should be open for foreigners from countries with zero COVID-19 cases.
(The number one carrier of virus is traveling so for me let’s not accept foreign tourists for now as we are still fixing quarantine, protocols for incoming guests and testing.)
“Alam naman natin yung target ng testing na 30,000, hindi pa natin na-a-achieve. Paano kapag nagpasok ng turista dito? So, kumbaga pangdagdag sa need na kailangan i-test,” she added.
(We all know that the target testing of 30,000 per day has not been achieved. What more when tourists come in? They will be added to those who will need to undergo testing.)
Last June 2, the Department of Health said the testing capacity remains at 8,000 to 9,000 daily. DOH added that some laboratories have below maximum capacity for testing output.
For now, Department of Tourism said it is gradually allowing domestic tourism in the country but admitted that some local government units are hesitant to open their tourists spots.