Two more popular tourist destinations—Puerto Princesa City in Palawan and Siquijor—have begun accepting domestic tourists at the start of March.
This is welcome news for individuals working in the tourism industry, as well as to travelers who want nothing but a much-deserved vacation after a year-long quarantine.
Known as the “Healing Island of Central Visayas,” Siquijor has a lot to offer tourists, whether they are nature lovers, adventure junkies, beachgoers and divers, or culture enthusiasts.
Some of the famous attractions in Siquijor include the Old Enchanted Balete Tree and the Lazi Church and Convent. Other activities to do in the area are a visit to local healers or trying out the bolo-bolo (a traditional healing ritual with the help of a glass of water, bamboo straw, and a black stone).
Siquijor also boasts of its traditional healing culture, Cambugahay Falls, Paliton Beach, and Mt. Bandilaan, where the sought-after Healing Festival takes place.
The province has recorded a total number of 143,286 same-day visitor arrivals and 37,651 overnight visitor arrivals in 2020.
Puerto Princesa, on the other hand, is the capital city of Palawan. Its most famous tourist attraction is arguably the UNESCO World Heritage site Underground River.
In 2020, Palawan logged a partial number of 157,051 tourist arrivals, 71,889 of which were visits to the capital city.
Tourism secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat visited both areas recently as part of the ongoing efforts to assist the local government units in the safe reopening of tourist destinations.
During her visit to Siquijor, Puyat said that areas of collaboration between the Department of Tourism (DOT), the public, and private sector consist of promotional branding campaigns, the continuous implementation of public health and safety protocols, development of tourism products, enhancement of tourism circuits featuring farm, dive, and ecotourism, among others.
Incoming tourists to Siquijor would be required to present a negative RT-PCR or rapid antigen test result, travel authority from the home local government unit, confirmed booking with a DOT-accredited accommodation establishment, and duly accomplished affidavit of undertaking, among others.
For visits to Puerto Princesa, visitors would be required to take the RT-PCR test before travel with 48 hours validity, the negative result of which should be emailed directly by the Department of Health (DOH)-accredited testing facility to the City’s Incident Management Team (IMT).
Also required is a confirmed booking from a DOT-accredited accommodation establishment and travel agency for guided tours.
The use of the StaySafe.ph system as a contact tracing application is likewise mandatory.