This Week in Palawan (October 17 to 23, 2021)

The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases or the IATF-EID has updated the quarantine protocols and the testing requirements for tourists, returning residents, and travelers from outside countries going to the Philippines. Provinces in the Philippines with an improved downgrade of COVID-19 cases, including Palawan, can now accept returning residents and tourists as long as they follow updated quarantine protocols.

Starting on October 13, the IATF-EID declared through Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque that fully vaccinated foreigners and travelers from “green” or low-risk countries do not need to undergo facility-based quarantine upon arrival in the country. For fully vaccinated foreigners entering the country, they must comply with a negative result of the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test taken 72 hours before leaving their point of origin. These individuals are also advised to undergo self-monitoring for any symptoms in 14 days.

Starting October 8, fully vaccinated individuals from “yellow” or moderate risk countries only need to undergo facility-based quarantine until negative results of the RT-PCR test taken on the fifth day are yielded. He also added that they will be allowed to proceed to home quarantine until their 10th day after yielding the negative results.

Unvaccinated or partially vaccinated persons with unverified vaccination status must go through a facility-based quarantine until they yield the negative result of their RT-PCR test taken on the seventh day.

Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Jose Maria Concepcion is thankful to IATF for heeding the requests of the said sector since this would be a big help to the Filipino citizens, especially local returning residents because the Christmas season is fast approaching. It means that it will also boost the bouncing back of the Philippine economy for this quarter of 2021. [1]

Along with Negros Occidental, Palawan is one of the provinces that has relaxed its domestic travel quarantine restrictions. Coron, Palawan will be accepting fully vaccinated tourists from outside the province under the point-to-point (P2P) bubble tourism policy, effective November 15.

Puerto Princesa, Palawan, is placed under general community quarantine (GCQ) until October 31, 2021, until further notice. Regarding the travel restrictions in the province, passengers bound for Palawan must remember the following flight schedules instead of their plans of traveling depending on the point of departure. For Manila passengers bound to Puerto Princesa, they may only take flight PR2785 on Wednesdays. Passengers bound for any municipality in the province of Palawan may book on any flight schedule. As for flights from Cebu going to Puerto Princesa, only the passengers bound for any municipality in Palawan may take flights on Thursdays. These flight schedules are applicable if travelers are flying with Philippine Airlines.

The updated basic travel requirements in Puerto Princesa as of October 12, 2021, are as follows:

● Valid ID

● S-PASS Travel Coordination Permit

● StaySafe QR Code

● Negative RT-PCR Test Result from testing facilities accredited by the DOH using nasopharyngeal swabs taken within forty-eight (48) hours before arrival

● Travel Order / Travel Itinerary (for APORS)

● Vaccination Card or ID (for travelers staying for three days only)

● Returning Ticket (for travelers staying for three days only)

As for the province of Palawan, modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) is imposed by the government until October 31, 2021, until further notice. The province of Palawan shall implement a 14-day mandatory facility-based quarantine to all inbound travelers, except repatriated OFWs or returning overseas Filipinos who have undergone complete quarantine certified by the Bureau of Quarantine (BOQ).

Another set of travelers under this exemption is the essential travel of national government authorized persons outside of residence (APORs) and those involved in conducting and reinforcing COVID-19 vaccination teams. These individuals also have a quarantine certificate by the Department of Health DOH) or BOQ, granted unfettered entry to the final government unit of destination.

The Municipality of Taytay, Palawan, is placed under modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) starting October 10 until October 23, 2021.

NCCC Mall Palawan will host Halloween Activities with their MonSTAR Halloween event. They will have an NCCC Malls Shopping Assistant Exclusive Pick a Treat from October 25-30, 2021, and a Digital Trick or Treat from October 25 until the end of October.

Active cases of COVID-19 in Palawan have currently lowered down. From a high rate that reached 250 cases, it has significantly lowered to 183 as per recent news. [2]

The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) recently allowed actual in-person classes in areas with low active cases and high vaccination rates. Chairman Prospero de Vera declared that the education sector is currently eyeing the possibility of limited in-person or face-to-face classes for all degree programs in such areas. However, De Vera also said that higher education institutions far from Metro Manila are usually the areas that need to improve their vaccination rates, including the Palawan State University and Aklan State University. CHED has released orders for these institutions to coordinate with their government units to raise the vaccination rates in their respective localities. [3]

After tropical storm Maring moves away from the Philippines, it still lands heavy rain in other areas. It is found that the said storm has merged with now low-pressure area Nando, as per the state weather bureau. The enhancement of the south-westerlies might bring rains to Palawan and Occidental Mindoro, alongside other areas. [4]

There is still a thunderstorm risk, but expect cloudy days from October 17 with possible patchy rains. Clear skies, but a few rain showers are forecasted from October 20 to October 23. [5]

Visit Yoorekka Consumer Magazine for more travel and COVID-19 updates and guidelines in Palawan!