NEGROS OCCIDENTAL PROVINCIAL GOV'T

PHILIPPINE Airlines, Inc. (PAL) is offering flights exclusively for those fully-vaccinated in its Manila-Bacolod route starting this month.   

PAL Bacolod branch head Rene G. Aviles, in a letter to industry partners, announced a “special flight for fully vaccinated passengers only” from Manila, twice a week on Monday and Fridays in November and December.   

“You might want to take that flight if you want to travel more safely,” Bacolod City Administrator Em Legaspi-Ang said in a Facebook post where she shared the PAL advisory. 

The flag-carrier is also maintaining a daily Manila-Bacolod-Manila service.  

The Bacolod-Silay International Airport is the main gateway to Negros Occidental.  

Bacolod is currently under Alert Level 2, the second most relaxed quarantine level under the new system.   

The city has eased rules for inbound travelers, including the lifting of the negative RT-PCR test result and S-pass requirements for fully-vaccinated individuals.  

The city has seen a decline in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases and positivity rate over the last four weeks.  

As of Nov. 14, Department of Health data show Bacolod had 757 active COVID-19 cases out of the 3,456 recorded since the start of the pandemic. There were 22,093 recoveries and 603 deaths.  

Bacolod has fully vaccinated 42% of its target population while over 45% have been given a first dose, based on data as of Nov. 8. — MSJ