Flights to and from Dumaguete Canceled

Commercial flights to and from the Dumaguete-Sibulan Airport in Negros Oriental were canceled today pending a meeting between the governor and the local chief executives on Friday.

Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific had originally scheduled the resumption of their domestic flights in Dumaguete starting today but the cancellation came due to the need for further consultation among provincial and local officials in the province, said Mark Diamaoden, airport manager and chief of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) in the city.

This developed following a meeting of the provincial Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) yesterday afternoon where the requirements for returning residents were discussed, he said.

Diamaoden said an advisory from the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) stipulates that “domestic commercial operations in airports within provinces, cities, or municipalities declared to be under GCQ (general community quarantine) are hereby allowed to resume.”

The national IATF-EID and the National Task Force on Covid-19 has allowed the resumption of flights in June, except for leisure travel, the CAB advisory said.
However, Diamaoden said the CAB advisory also specifies that only airports in areas under GCQ which have the support of the provincial/local officials for the resumption of domestic commercial operation shall be allowed.

In Negros Oriental, the provincial IATF still has to get the consensus of the mayors, particularly on the requirements for returning residents and business travelers following a spike in the number of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) cases in the province and other concerns on the resumption of air travel.

As of the latest count, the province has a total of 17 confirmed Covid-19 cases, two of whom are from nearby Cebu but are under quarantine in Dumaguete.
Initially, the requirements for locally stranded individuals (LSIs) are medical certificate and an authority to travel.

For overseas Filipino workers, their return shall be facilitated by the Overseas Welfare Workers Administration (OWWA) to include their requirements, while business travelers are asked to present a medical certificate and a certificate of employment.

However, the IATF Executive Committee came up with a list of added requirements for inbound passengers to Dumaguete late yesterday afternoon.
Apart from the medical certificate and authority to travel for returning overseas Filipinos and LSIs, a certificate of employment/mission order/letter order will also be required for authorized persons outside of residence (APORs), Miraflor said.

APORs include those working in the uniformed services and other front-liners.* (Mary Judaline Partlow, PNA)