Pangasinan adopts IATF unified travel protocols

By March 7, 2021Headlines, News

NO TRAVEL PASS, MEDICAL CERTIFICATE NEEDED

PRESENTATION of travel authority, medical certificates, negative swab testing results are no longer required from tourists visiting the province unless component local government units require these.

This was the directive of the unified travel protocols of the resolution approved by Inter-Agency Task Force for Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) adopted by the provincial government.

Gov. Amado Espino III issued Executive Order No. 0018-2021, “Adopting the Uniform Travel Protocols under IATF-EID Resolution Number 101, series of 2021” that cites the

general guidelines for travel; minimum public health standards; testing and quarantine; documentary requirements and ports and terminals.

Specifically, the EO directed that “Pangasinan may now admit tourists outside the Baguio-La Union-Pangasinan-Ilocos Sur-Ilocos Norte (BLUPISIN) area, subject to reasonable restrictions which may be imposed by the host LGU upon tourist from areas with classifications higher than modified general community quarantine (MGCQ).”

IATF Resolution No. 101 series of 2021 underscores the need to issue revised guidelines for travel in order to avoid confusion amidst the continuous effort to address and contain the spread of COVID-19, so that response and measures done will not be put to naught.

Additionally, visitors are encouraged to register at the Pangasinan Tara stations, pending the roll-out of the Safe, Swift and Smart Passage (S-PaSS) Travel Management System of the Department of Science and Technology while directing the strict enforcement of minimum public health standards.

Meanwhile, clinical and exposure assessment shall be done to ensure that only asymptomatic travelers, and non-close contact individuals of COVID-19 patients are allowed to travel and enter the LGU of destination.

Authorized Persons Outside of Residence (APORs) (from national government agencies and their attached agencies, LGUs and the private sector) will only be required to provide identification card, travel order, and travel itinerary, and must pass symptom-screening at ports of entry and exit.

However, Locally Stranded Individuals, Resident Overseas Filipinos and Overseas Filipino Workers will still be required to report to Barangay Health Emergency Response Teams upon arrival at their respective residences.

COVID-19 testing will not be mandatory for travelers inbound to Pangasinan for day visitors or for those who will stay in the province for less than 24 hours unless the receiving component LGU requires reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test, or if visitor exhibits COVID-19 symptoms upon arrival at town destination.

The EO requires all terminals in the province to have sufficient quarantine or isolation facilities, and a referral system to transfer symptomatic travelers to the care of the Bureau of Quarantine or LGUs.

For the National Capital Region, all buses bound for Pangasinan shall he required to use the Integrated Terminal Exchange as a central hub for transportation.  (Leonardo Micua/Jerick Pasiliao)

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