Coast Guard waiting for guidelines

By Dolly Yasa

Bacolod City – Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) Negros Occidental chief, Lt. Commander Jansen Benjamin, said Wednesday that they are waiting for the guidelines from Bacolod City Mayor Evelio Leonardia after the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) ordered the resumption of passenger sea travel in areas placed under the modified general community quarantine (MGCQ).

Benjamin said ferry vessels are required to maintain health protocols such as limiting the number of passengers to 50 percent of a vessel’s seating capacity, observance of social distancing, and requiring passengers to wear face masks at all times.

Other minimum health requirements include disinfection of passenger accommodation areas after every trip.

Benjamin also confirmed that he had already received information from his counter-part in Iloilo City, where Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas is allowing the resumption of regular passenger ferry trips, although he has not received any information yet from the city government.

The PCG commander said if Leonardia will also approve the resumption of sea trips, he will immediately call for a meeting with officials from the Banago Port officials and representatives from the Bredco port to discuss plans on how to control the number of passengers.

He said that if sea trips resume on Saturday, they are expecting a lot of people to flock to the seaport terminals.

He said there are individuals who are still stranded in Bacolod City and are looking forward to going back to their respective hometowns.

Benjamin advised passengers to be patient as they will strictly implement social distancing rules whenever passengers get their tickets, proceed to security check-in counters, and in boarding their respective vessels.