Zamboanga, Sulu scrap RT-PCR requirement for fully vaccinated travellers

PAGADIAN CITY – Fully vaccinated persons entering Zamboanga City and Sulu province are no longer required to present their negative RT-PCR tests, local government officials said Wednesday.

Sulu Governor Sakur Tan signs November 17, 2021 the executive order lifting the RT-PCR requirement for persons entering the southern province. Sulu has one of the lowest Covid-19 cases in the Philippines.

Sulu Governor Sakur Tan issued an executive order lifting the RT-PCR requirement for inbound travellers who are fully vaccinated. He said fully vaccinated persons entering the province must only show their vaccination and identification cards. 

“The lifting of RT-PCR requirement will encourage the people to be inoculated thus increasing the rate of vaccination in the province of Sulu,” he said.

But he said unvaccinated persons entering Sulu must present their negative RT-PCR test results and identification cards. Sulu remains under the Moderate General Community Quarantine classification until the end of November.

Zamboanga City Mayor Beng Climaco, head of the local Covid-19 task force, said the decision to forego the RT-PCR test requirements for fully vaccinated persons is in response to the clamor of those frequently travelling and recommendations from medical experts. 

She said in lieu of the RT-PCR requirement, travellers shall present only their vaccination card and S-PASS or the Safe, Swift and Smart Passage, an online travel management system of the Department of Science and Technology used for domestic travel during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

But Climaco said travellers may be asked to present their antigen test results within 24 hours of travel if they come from areas with high numbers of Covid-19 cases such as those under Alert Levels 4 and 5. 

However, travellers who are not vaccinated are still required to present their negative RT-PCR tests and S-PASS when entering Zamboanga, according to the local government.

“Everything we decide here is based on science and recommendations of the experts, such as the medical sector, in order to protect everybody against Covid-19. We want to balance the safety and the economic aspect of the situation under the pandemic and as we go on, we adapt to the new normal,” the mayor said. 

She also urge residents to vaccinate and help prevent the spread of the deadly respiratory disease by following the public health protocols. (Zamboanga Post, Mindanao Examiner)