Gov’t eyes scrapping travel authority, health certificate for travelers — DILG

MANILA, Philippines — The government is eyeing to remove travel authority and medical certificates as a requirement to harmonize travel protocols all over the country, an undersecretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said Tuesday.

“Ang gusto na namin tanggalin yung travel authority at local health certificate kasi medyo irrelevant na. ‘Yung mga kapulisan natin halimbawa instead na peace and order ang kanilang focus, karamihan na nasa presinto nagiissue na lang ng travel authority,” DILG Undersecretary Epimaco Densing III explained over ABS-CBN Teleradyo when asked if DILG has proposal to unify travel protocols nationwide.

(We want to remove travel authority and local health certificates because they are irrelevant. Our policemen would focus on issuance of travel authority instead of implementing peace and order.)

“Pangalawa, ‘yung city health certificate hindi na relevant kasi kukuha ako ng health certificate tapos after three days pa ako magbiyahe wala na siyang relevance din dahil maaaring magkaroon ako ng Covid-19 along the way,” Densing further said.

(City health certificate is not relevant anymore especially because if it was issued three days prior to travel, it has no relevance. I still might get infected with Covid-19 along the way.)

But Densing said these are “subject for discussions” as they will soon harmonize all travel policies in local government units (LGUs) to boost tourism.

“May kalituhan pero dahil may government at IATF [Inter Agency Task Force] policy na kailangang dahan-dahan para makagalaw for purposes of tourism, kailangan mayroong common protocols,” the DILG official said.

(There are some confusions but since we have the government and IATF policy that we need to slowly ease travel restrictions for purposes of tourism, we need to have common protocols.)

Earlier, Densing said they are mulling to remove the requirement to undergo swab testing before travel protocols for all LGUs.

He said they will instead require travelers to undertake clinical assessment at the terminal of origin and terminal of destination.

To prevent community transmission in their areas, LGUs are requiring negative Covid-19 test results, medical clearances and travel passes. Cebu already eased its travel protocols by completely scrapping Covid-19 test requirements for visitors.

EDV