Mayor wants to allow entry of ‘fully vaccinated’ foreigners in Lapu-Lapu City

Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Junard Chan said on Wednesday, April 28, that he wants to allow fully vaccinated foreigners who had tested negative for COVID-19 to enter his city.

Chan sought the help of Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, who was part of the press briefing, to help him convince Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, chair of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID), to approve the proposal.

“We are appealing to Honorable Secretary Harry Roque to help us to lobby with Dr. Duque, the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) head, to allow entry of foreigners, tourists who are fully vaccinated and prior to departure from their point of origin, to have the RT-PCR test,” said Chan.

Chan believes that allowing vaccinated tourists will boost tourism in Lapu-Lapu City, and the rest of Cebu. Cebu is a major tourist destination in the Philippines.

The National Task Force against COVID-19 earlier issued an order temporarily barring the entry of foreigners in the country from March 22 to April 30.

In response to Chan, Roque said he asked the mayor to provide a letter addressed to Duque on his request, and that Roque would relay this to the IATF. He said that the request “seems workable.”

“It will be a regional decision of the IATF so i-endorso po natin ‘yan sa IATF (It will be a regional decision of the IATF so we will endorse it to the IATF),” Roque said.

Roque added that for the proposal to be considered, there should be proper “controls” for arriving the departing foreigners.

As of Tuesday, April 27, there are 679 active COVID-19 cases in Lapu-Lapu City, down from 714 on Monday, April 26. – Rappler.comn