DOT hopeful that travel outside NCR Plus will be allowed in June

Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat in an interview with INQUIRER.net. FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Tourism (DOT) is hopeful that the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) will allow travel from the NCR Plus to other provinces outside the bubble as long as travelers will get tested for COVID-19.

Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said Tuesday that the DOT already made this proposal even when the NCR Plus was still under modified enhanced community quarantine. The NCR Plus, covering Metro Manila and the nearby provinces of Cavite, Rizal, Laguna, and Bulacan, is under general community quarantine (GCQ) with heightened restrictions until the end of May.

“Ngayon, nag-strict GCQ na tayo, we again asked, pwede na ba from NCR [Plus] to travel out as long as may test before travel? Ang pinayagan nila is staycation within the NCR plus bubble,” Puyat told ABS-CBN News Channel.

(Now that we are under strict GCQ, we again asked if travel outside the NCR Plus will be allowed as long as there is testing before travel. However, they only allowed staycation within the NCR Plus bubble.)

“We are hoping that by June 1, kung mag-GCQ na tayo, our cases are going down, na finally payagan nila,” she added.

(We are hoping that by June 1, if we will be under GCQ and given that our cases are going down, they will approve our proposal.)

Puyat noted that so far, there has been no COVID-19 outbreak in the provinces that was caused by tourism.

The DOT chief also pointed out that most people want to go to the beach now because of the hot weather.

“So we are hoping that by June 1, pumayag na, especially the DOH (Department of Health) and health experts. But kami naman in the DOT, we are always pushing for the restart of tourism but of course with health and safety,” she said.

(So we are hoping that by June 1, the government, especially the DOH and health experts will approve our proposal. But for us in the DOT, we are always pushing for the restart of tourism but of course with health and safety.)

“We are hoping na payagan, as long as may test before travel,” Puyat added.

(We are hoping they will accept our proposal, as long as there is testing before travel.)

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