Capiz, Aklan ease travel rules for tourists, residents

HANGING LOOSE Boracay Island in Malay, Aklan, is on top of the list of many people wanting to relax and enjoy the beach and stunning sunsets especially during the pandemic. With COVID-19 cases dropping in Western Visayas region, travel requirerments for tourists and residents have been eased in Aklan and the nearby province of Capiz. —JACK JARILLA

ILOILO CITY, Iloilo, Philippines — The provinces of Capiz and Aklan have relaxed travel restrictions for fully vaccinated visitors amid the continued drop in COVID-19 cases in these areas.

Tourists from Panay and Guimaras islands who are fully vaccinated can also present the vaccination certificate issued by the Department of Health (DOH) in lieu of a negative swab test result when they visit Aklan, where Boracay Island is located.

Effective Oct. 21, returning residents of Aklan who are fully vaccinated may submit the vaccination certificate issued by the DOH (https://vaxcert.doh.gov.ph) or a vaccination card issued by a local government instead of a negative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test result.

Aklan Gov. Florencio Miraflores earlier announced that the RT-PCR test result requirement for tourists visiting Boracay would be scrapped once the vaccination target for the resort island was met.

Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo Puyat last week said the vaccination for the target population of tourism workers and residents in Boracay would be reached by the end of this month.

Starting Oct. 26, tourists from Panay and Guimaras visiting Aklan have the option of presenting the vaccination certificate issued by the DOH if it is already available.

Cases dropping

The issuance of the certificate is on pilot implementation and only those traveling to other countries will be issued this document as of Oct. 26.Capiz Gov. Esteban Evan Contreras also issued an executive order, effective Oct. 18, allowing fully vaccinated domestic travelers to the province to only submit vaccination cards instead of a negative RT-PCR test result. Aside from the vaccination card, a copy of the travel coordination permit and a health declaration form are also required.

COVID-19 cases in Western Visayas, composed of the provinces of Antique, Aklan, Capiz, Guimaras, Iloilo and Negros Occidental, have been steadily declining in recent weeks.

As of Oct. 24, Western Visayas had been categorized as low risk for COVID-19, according to the regional DOH.

Only the cities of Bacolod and Iloilo are classified as moderate risk for COVID-19.

The average daily cases in the region, as of Oct. 24, had dropped to 475 from 854 in September, according to the DOH. INQ