All incoming and outgoing domestic flights from the Bacolod-Silay Airport were cancelled yesterday by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, in compliance with the executive order issued by Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson closing borders, ports and airports of Negros Occidental.
But flights of cargo, military planes, air ambulances carrying medical supplies, including also weather mitigation, maintenance and utility, are exempted, CAAP-Bacolod said in a press statement.
The cancellation of domestic flights will end on April 15, it also said.
The CAAP also approved the request of Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson to allow scheduled commercial flights yesterday, to ferry stranded passengers from the Bacolod-Silay Airport to Clark and Cebu, or vice versa.
The passengers were stranded after the order of Lacson for the closure of all Negros Occidental borders, including airports and seaports, took effect yesterday.
Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said Lacson wrote a letter to the CAAP, and the management of the Bacolod Silay Airport to allow airline companies to ferry the stranded passengers only on March 16, for humanitarian considerations.
Diaz said 33 Pampanga residents were among those stranded yesterday at the Bacolod Silay Airport.
There are 20 Negrenses also stranded at the Tabuelan Port in Cebu.
But Diaz said they were already advised to board Ro-Ro vessels, and required to present identification cards to prove that they are residents of Negros Occidental, as the Philippine Coast Guard was already alerted to allow them to go home to the province.
Percy Malonesio, CAAP area manager, told ABS-CBN that they granted the request of Lacson, for humanitarian considerations, stressing that the Bacolod-Silay Airport is operational for 24 hours.
But Malonesio said that airline companies had until midnight yesterday, to ferry the stranded passengers.
Starting today, there will be no commercial flights, except for military flights, and to accommodate those in emergency situations, and planes carrying supplies, he added.
Diaz also encouraged operators of bus companies and other public utility vehicles to comply with the executive order of Lacson to close the borders of Negros Occidental.
“We cannot act as if everything is normal”, Diaz said, adding that the next two weeks are critical, apparently referring to the rapid spread of COVID- 19 disease all over the country.
It is time to prioritize our own health, safety and lives of the people, other than profits, he added.
Diaz also said that the Land Transportation Franchising Regulatory Board, Department of Interior and Local; Government, as well as other government agencies, have already been furnished copies of the EO issued by Lacson.*
BY GILBERT P. BAYORAN
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