Negros Occidental is still not open to tourists from other parts of the country and the world, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said today, January 24.
“Our agreement with the mayors is that Negros Occidental will remain closed to incoming tourists. We cannot preempt the COVID-19 vaccines, there is no sense of security yet, we have to wait for the vaccines,” he said.
Negros Occidental’s borders remain closed, except for locally stranded individuals (LSI), returning overseas Filipinos (ROF), and Authorized Persons Outside Residence (APOR), he said.
While local tourism is allowed, the provincial government is still not encouraging it, Diaz also said.
In fact, the provincial government’s Mambukal Resort in Murcia town will remain closed, he said.
We met with representatives of the airlines and it was agreed that they will continue to only be allowed two flights each from Manila to the Bacolod Silay Airport a week in February, Diaz said.
If they want to add an extra flight they will be allowed to do so provided the inbound plane carries cargo and only the outbound flight may have passengers, he added.
We still need to be careful to prevent the entry of the new United Kingdom COVID-19 variant, he said.*