MANILA, Philippines — Local government units fearing a surge of COVID-19 infections need not be pressured to open up their areas for tourists.
Senator Nancy Binay said this Wednesday as the government started to ease restrictions and sees domestic tourism as a jumping point to revive the industry amid the pandemic.
“I think [at] the moment, ang mahalaga eh ‘yung hindi kumalat ‘yung virus. Kung ang ibig sabihin nito ay isasara natin ‘yung turismo dun sa isang lugar, ‘yun ang dapat gawin kasi ang importante ngayon is the health and safety of our people,” said Binay, chair of the Senate tourism committee, during an online interview with reporters.
(I think at the moment, the important thing is to prevent the spread of the virus. If this means stopping tourism in an area then so be it because what is important right now is the health and safety of our people.)
“Kaya nga ang laki ng problema ng industriya ng turismo. Mukhang ito ‘yung pinakahuli na makakabangon,” she added.
(That’s why the tourism industry faces a big problem. Looks like this is the last industry that can recover from the impact of the pandemic).
READ: Domestic travel seen as ‘catalyst’ for rebooting virus-hit Philippine tourism
Nevertheless, Binay encouraged Filipinos to support local tourism and products should they choose to travel.
“Panawagan ko rin sa ating mga kababayan na imbes na tangkilikin ‘yung turismo sa ibang bansa, unahin na lang muna natin ‘yung dito sa atin… Let’s go local first,” she said.
(My appeal to fellow Filipinos is instead of traveling abroad, why not prioritize for now local tourism spots… Let’s go local first).
“Whether mga tourist sights, tourist destinations or mga gamit na gawa dito sa Pilpinas, siguro iyon ‘yung kailangan natin na gawing kampanya,” she added.
(Whether it be tourist sights, tourist destinations, or local products made here in the Philippines, this should be something that we should push for.)
According to the senator, the current lack of tourism activity can be used to retrain staff members in hotels or resorts and improve tourism facilities.
Meanwhile, Binay said she sees nothing wrong with the government’s decision to lift the ban on non-essential outbound trips provided that travelers abide by health protocols when they get back.
“Para sakin parang wala masyadong problema for as long as pagbalik nila, susunod sila sa protocol na kailangan. May mandatory 14-day quarantine at magpapa-PCR [polymerase chain reaction] test sila,” the senator said.
(For me, I don’t see any problem as long as when they return, they would follow required protocols. There’s the mandatory 14-day quarantine and they will undergo PCR testing).
“May mga kababayan naman tayo na adventurous, so siguro malakas pa rin ‘yung loob nila bumyahe pero makikita naman natin sa worldwide trend medyo may problema tayo, ‘yung industriya ng turismo globally. Sa tinging ko hindi rin ganun karami ‘yung mga kababayan natin na makakapagbiyahe,” she added.
(We have some adventurous Filipinos, so maybe they have the guts to still travel but as we can see in the worldwide trend, we seem to have a problem, the tourism industry globally. I think not that many Filipinos could travel.)
Like Binay, Senator Panfilo Lacson also sees no problem with allowing Filipinos to travel abroad for non-essential purposes.
“As long as conditions are complied with and protocols are strictly observed, particularly on quarantine procedures upon their return to the country, I can see no problem with the lifting of the suspension on non-essential travel by Filipinos,” he said in a separate statement.
“That said, however, I do not see this [as] encouraging Filipinos to travel. Who would be encouraged to travel in the middle of a worldwide pandemic?” he added.
Philippine health authorities have so far confirmed 50,359 COVID-19 cases in the country. Of the number 12,588 have recovered while 1,314 have succumbed to the disease.
Globally, the number of individuals infected with the new coronavirus, which originated from Wuhan City in China’s Hubei province late last year, surpassed 11.3 million. Over 532,000 have died from the disease across the world.