Airplanes remain parked at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport in this 2019 photo. | CDN File Photo (Tonee Despojo)
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Incoming international flights are back at Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) as of Sunday, June 13.
Lawyer Glenn Napuli, officer-in-charge of Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority (MCIAA), confirmed to CDN Digital in a text message that the airport would accept inbound international flights again starting Sunday.
Napuli said at least two flights from abroad would be expected to land at the airport on Sunday. These flights are from Singapore via Scoot, and from South Korea via JinAir.
“Naa ta (We have) incoming flights — Scoot Air from Singapore… and from Incheon (South Korea via Jin Air),” Napuli said.
To recall, the Malacañang ordered to divert all flights bound for MCIA twice. First, from May 29 to June 5, then from June 7 to June 12.
The diversions, the Palace said, were set so that the protocols of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID) will be ‘fully and seamlessly implemented’.
Cebu has its own swabbing policies for incoming Returning Overseas Filipinos (ROFs) and Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) called the Swab-Upon-Arrival policy.
The rule has deviated from those implemented by the IATF that requires incoming Filipino travelers from abroad to undergo quarantine for 14 days in which 10 days will be in an accredited facility and the remaining days in home quarantine.
They, too, will only be subjected for swabbing on the seventh day.
In Cebu, ROFs and OFWs will be swabbed upon arrival, and will only need to stay in quarantine for a maximum of three days if they test negative for the infection.
Residents in Cebu will also undergo another round of swab tests once they arrive at their respective localities, expenses of which will be shouldered by the Department of Health in Central Visayas (DOH-7).
Key officials from concerned agencies, including MCIAA, agreed that they would continue to implement the Swab-Upon-Arrival policy even after the diversion of international flights bound for Mactan would be lifted.
The province’s swabbing protocol recently gained support from national government officials, particularly members of the Senate.
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