PHOTO CAPTION: Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat (center) visits Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar in Bagac town.
BAGAC, Bataan — The local government of Bagac led by Mayor Rommel “Ramil” Del Rosario thanked the Department of Tourism (DOT) for its commitment to help the town’s tourism industry recover from losses incurred due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mayor Del Rosario told DOT Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat that though tourism is slowly opening up in their town, health restrictions to locals as well as tourists are still being observed and implemented.
“I thank the Secretary for DOT’s offer to provide free Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests to our hotel and restaurant employees that will assure the health and safety of both locals and tourists,” Del Rosario added.
Through the gradual re-opening of local tourism, Del Rosario said they are able to contribute in reviving the local economy of Bataan. However, he shared that some tourists tend to cancel reservation due to age restrictions of people particularly those below 15 years old and above 65 years old.
Puyat advised the local government unit (LGU) that since the province is under Modified General Community Quarantine (MGCQ), they can write a request to DOT to lift age restrictions among travelers so that Filipino families can enjoy their vacation. This is being implemented in Baguio, Boracay, El Nido and Coron.
The cabinet official added that they can also subsidize the RT-PCR tests of tourists amounting to PhP750 each and results will be available a day after.
Puyat furthered that even if tourism and non-essential travels are allowed under MGCQ it is still the LGU’s decision if they are going to allow it.
“We want to restart tourism safely but surely,” she stressed.