2-week moratorium on flights carrying stranded persons to Western Visayas starts July 5

BACOLOD CITY –– Flights to the Bacolod Silay Airport that carry locally stranded individuals (LSIs) from Manila will be suspended starting July 5.

Negros Occidental Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana has suspended the repatriation of LSIs to Western Visayas, which includes Negros Occidental and Bacolod City, for two weeks effective Sunday (July 5) to stop the spread of the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

“We have to do this because the LSIs are the ones bringing the virus to the provinces. The data from Bacolod and Iloilo City bear this out. The LGUs (local government units) asked for the suspension. We will have to come up with a better procedure to prevent this from happening,” Lorenzana said.

Scheduled LSI sweeper flights from Manila that have been approved by the national Inter-Agency Task Force and the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, however, have been allowed to land at the Bacolod Silay Airport until Saturday.

Diaz said the Philippine Airlines has requested to be allowed to fly in only cargo and to fly out passengers, especially overseas Filipino workers who need to return to their jobs abroad.

“The governor has agreed to this but they will have to get permission from the national Inter-Agency Task Force,” Diaz said.

Bacolod City Mayor Evelio Leonardia said he supports the governor’s request for a two-week moratorium on the entry of LSI’s to enable Bacolod City to free up more quarantine facilities for returning Negrenses.