DOT reopens Intramuros to tourists amid recent record-high COVID cases

Visitors have their souvenir photos taken by the Gate of Fort Santiago. The Fort is among the few tourism/historical sites finally opened to the public in Intramuros, Manila during the general community quarantine period. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / LYN RILLON

MANILA, Philippines — Intramuros in Manila will be opened to tourists starting on September 16, Department of Tourism (DOT) Secretary Berna Romulo-Puyat said on Wednesday, amid record-high coronavirus cases in recent days.

Interviewed on ANC, Puyat said that outdoor tourism attractions are already allowed once the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of the Emerging Infectious Diseases begins implementing the pilot run of granular lockdowns and new alert level system on Sept. 16. Metro Manila is currently under the modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ).

“Now, outdoor tourism attractions are now already allowed, so Intramuros will be opened,” she said. “A lot of people have been wanting to go to Intramuros, because it’s just right here in Manila, its outdoor space, open air. So we will be opening September 16.”

Puyat said that since Metro Manila will be put under Alert Level 4 by September 16, the popular historical and cultural site will be subject to age restriction, which means that those below 18 and above 65 of age will not be allowed.

In a later statement, Puyat said Intramuros sites Fort Santiago, Baluarte de San Diego and Plaza San Luis will be open for tourists.

Fort Santiago will accept visitors from 9:00 am to 7:30 pm, Monday to Friday, and from 9:00 am to 8:30 pm on Saturdays and Sundays, with a maximum capacity of 150 visitors at any given time.

Baluarte de San Diego will be operating daily from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm and with a capacity of a maximum of 80 people at a time.

Entrance fee for both Fort Santiago and Baluarte de San Diego will be P75 for regular visitors, and P50 for discounted eligible visitors such as seniors, students and PWDs.

Plaza San Luis, which has no entrance charge, is open from 8:00 am to 9:00 pm daily.

Puyat said that since Metro Manila will be put under Alert Level 4 by September 16, the popular historical and cultural site will be subject to age restriction, which means that those below 18 and above 65 of age will not be allowed.

DOT through the Intramuros Administration (IA) will also set up an express lane for fully-vaccinated individuals who wish to visit Fort Santiago and Baluarte San Diego.

“By using the express lane, fully-vaccinated visitors are allowed to accomplish the mandatory contact tracing form when inside the sites and will only need to present it to security personnel before exit,” DOT said.

Intramuros closed down its doors to tourists when Metro Manila was put under ECQ, the most stringent quarantine classification in August.

Intramuros closed down its doors to tourists when Metro Manila was put under ECQ, the most stringent classification in August.

On Tuesday (September 14), the Department of Health reported 18,056 new COVID-19 cases, a figure relatively lower than the over 20,000 additional infections being recorded in the previous weeks. The low number was due to lower testing laboratory output on Sunday.

The country logged 26,303 coronavirus cases last Sept. 11, the highest single-day tally of COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic last year.

EDV