CELEBRITY couple Sarah Geronimo and Matteo Guidicelli recently raised the hackles of netizens after they posted photos of her birthday vacation in Amanpulo, the playground of the world’s rich and famous, when the National Capital Region (NCR) was still under general community quarantine (GCQ).
More recently, a number of netizens have been noticing an increasing number of vacation photos in social media of other Metro Manila residents frolicking in destinations like El Nido, Palawan, and Balesin Island (Polillo Island), in Quezon.
According to the Department of Tourism (DOT), however, said leisure trips are allowed, even if the NCR is still under GCQ.
In an interview with the BusinessMirror, DOT Undersecretary for Tourism Regulation, Coordination and Resource Generation Arturo P. Boncato Jr. clarified, “Point-to-point travel is allowed/permitted by the IATF [Inter-Agency Task Force for Emerging Infectious Diseases]. These destinations have their respective hangars in Manila for a more contained processing before flights and test before travel is required.”
He added, the guests to these resort islands have to show a “negative RT-PCR test [result]” before they can fly, and will arrive directly in the destination airport.
Also, these resort islands are required to have minimum health and safety guidelines, he stressed. The resorts—El Nido Resorts, Balesin Island Club and Amanpulo Resort Philippines—already “have Certificates of Authority to Operate and accreditation by the DOT. Age limits are also relaxed for these destinations,” he said.
The DOT has been trying to kickstart domestic tourism by reopening key destinations with zero-Covid infections such as Boracay Island, Bohol and Baguio, but so far LGU officials have been delaying this on fears of an outbreak.
Palawan itself, which hosts El Nido and Amanpulo (Pamalican Island), is under modified GCQ, Boncato underscored, and per IATF guidelines, “Tourism is allowed with 50 percent operational capacity. The province/LGU [local government unit] is aware of [their] operations.”
A recent visitor to the members-only Balesin Island Club, who requested anonymity, said the club now requires “a swab test. You can take it at Aegle Wellness Center in Makati. There’s no test in the hangar. You have to do it at least two days before departure,” she explained. The test Aegle uses is an antigen swab test, not an RT-PCR test, with results that can be released within an hour, according to the wellness center’s web site. It costs P6,000. Flights to Balesin are either from the club’s private hangar in Pasay or in Clark, Pampanga.
Like Balesin, Aegle is owned by business tycoon Roberto V. Ongpin. Shares in the club go anywhere from P2.2 million to P4 million.
According to Joey Bernardino, group sales and marketing director for El Nido Resorts, “Yes, we have been running our travel bubble. The RT-PCR test is 72 hours prior to the flight for all guests including airline crew.”
The test, to check for the novel coronavirus, is done at the Ayala Group’s Qualimed Clinic, “so testing is exclusive to our guests. It’s done at the McKinley Forbes clinic,” he added. The resorts group also has a strict booking procedure according to the latest promo for Miniloc Island on its web site. “Guests with pre-existing health risks or comorbidities are not allowed to book the promo.”
The group’s other resorts are on Apulit Island, Lagen Island, and Pangalusian Island, as well as Lio Estates on the main island of El Nido. Guests fly from the Ayala-owned Swift Air’s private hangar in Pasay.
Amanpulo’s guests fly in from the A. Soriano hangar in Pasay. According to a TripAdvisor reviewer who visited the island in June, “at the lounge, Covid test will be facilitated; our luggage, bags, even wallets and phones are all UV-sanitized; [and] a doctor will conduct individual interviews and test.” On the plane, physical distancing is strictly enforced with only one person per row allowed.