Negros provinces open borders

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines  – Cross-border travel between Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental are now allowed as the provinces have opened their borders after a year of being closed.

Starting on Nov. 20, the Ceres Liner buses of the Vallacar Transit Inc. (VTI), the major transportation firm operating on the island as well as in other areas of the Visayas and Mindanao, were allowed to travel in and out of the provinces.

Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson issued an executive order providing the guidelines for incoming passengers plying the Dumaguete-Bacolod and Bacolod-Cebu routes, both through Mabinay town, as well as the Bacolod-Cebu route through Don Salvador Benedicto.

Fully vaccinated individuals are required to present an S-PaSS and a verifiable vaccination card or certificate of vaccination.

Unvaccinated or partially vaccinated travelers must present an S-PaSS and a negative RT-PCR or reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction test result.

Those caught using fake documents will be subjected to a 14-day quarantine and RT-PCR test on the fifth day from arrival at their own expense.

Only vehicles from the VTI Bacolod south hub will be allowed to transport passengers at 70 percent capacity, Lacson said.

The VTI management is required to submit a passenger manifest for monitoring purposes of the provincial governments.

S-PaSS scanning and verification of passengers will be done at all borders and ports of entry, Lacson said.