55 Korean nationals stranded in Negros Occ. repatriated

By Dolly Yasa

BACOLOD City – The Provincial Tourism Office said Friday that the Korean Embassy repatriated 55 Korean nationals on a chartered flight of Cebu Pacific.

Also onboard the plane were eight Taiwanese, nine Singaporeans and 12 Japanese from Negros Occidental and about 11 from Guimaras and Iloilo.

There are still 107 foreign nationals stranded in different towns and cities in the Province of Negros Occidental excluding Bacolod City – 18 Americans, three Australians, four Austrians, five British, one Czech, one Dutch, one French, one Hungarian, one Japanese, one Slovakian, three Swedish, 14 Swiss, 23 Canadians, and 29 Germans.

Sipalay City has the most number of stranded foreign tourists followed by San Carlos City.

The Department of Tourism recently announced that they are no longer initiating flights for stranded tourists.

There are airlines staging commercial flights or groups doing private charters to move stranded tourists to international gateways. Tourists may contact their respective embassies for such arrangements.

The Negros Occidental Tourism Division is presently monitoring the accommodation establishments temporarily closed and accommodating stranded tourists and is working closely with the local government units in the province and coordinating with the Department of Tourism online.

Should there be domestic and international tourists not yet listed, kindly coordinate with your city/municipal tourism offices, the provincial tourism office said.