DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 23 June) – Mayor Sara Duterte has told the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) to allow more commercial flights from Manila to Davao City as the number of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases in the city remains “manageable.”
Duterte said during her interview over Davao City Disaster Radio (DCDR 87.5) that she has seen a high demand for Manila-Davao-Manila flights.
Several returning passengers have been stranded in Manila for several months amid lockdown in several parts of the country during the period of enhanced community quarantine and after the national government eased the travel restrictions early this month.
She said domestic commercial flights resumed last June 8.
City Tourism Officer Generose Tecson said in a text message that Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific, and AirAsia have resumed once weekly commercial flights to Davao coming from Manila, Cebu, and Clark in Pampanga.
Duterte said international flights were supposed to resume last June 22 but airline companies like Cebu Pacific and SilkAir, which service Davao-Singapore-Davao, and Cathay Dragon, servicing Davao-Hong Kong-Davao, have decided to cancel their flights until end of July 2020.
“Why? I don’t know. They did not give a reason,” she said.
On March 17, or two days after health authorities here confirmed the region’s first COVID-19 case, Duterte ordered the suspension of domestic and international flights effective immediately in pursuance of Presidential Proclamation 922 placing the country “in a state of public health emergency in relation to national security”
As of June 22, Department of Health-Davao reported 474 (COVID-19) cases in the region: 389 in Davao City, 29 in Davao del Norte, 20 in Davao del Sur, 11 in Davao de Oro, 21 in Davao Oriental, and four in Davao Occidental. (Antonio L. Colina IV / MindaNews)
