Happiest New Year everyone! This entry is tad late for the New Years and the Chinese New Year. Here's to praying that most of you are in good spirits and has started 2021 right. As for me, I did my first travel of the year to Cebu, not for tourism but for medical purposes and some tax related appointments.
Traveling these days is a lot of fun --- not. It's a little stressful and overwhelming. Gone are the days where traveling to places is as easy as buying a ticket online, packing your bags and just being at the airport before boarding.
Times are hard and with all the new restrictions and safety protocols, it feels as if we are traveling abroad with all the papers we need to present instead of feeling chill to be coming home to a very familiar place. I will be listing down below the requirements that my mother and I needed to present to be able to travel to Cebu.
Requirements: From Davao City to Cebu City
CONFIRMED TICKET BOOKING, we flew via Philippines Airlines. Confirmed ticketing bookings will be presented to your barangay officer to show that you are traveling to and from this city and so.
BARANGAY CERTIFICATE, to certify that you are fit to travel and that you are not a suspected or probable CoVid19 case.
TRAVEL AUTHORITY/ POLICE CLEARANCE, to certify that you are allowed to leave and travel from and to Davao City and to your destinations.
LETTER OF ACCEPTANCE, this is to certify that the barangay where you are headed is allowing you to enter their border and stay with a protocol of a 14 day home quarantine. We are fortunate enough to own a house in Cebu with relatives who made the request on our behalf. We were given the Letter of Acceptance only after we sent a copy of our Barangay Certificate and Travel Authority/ Police Clearance.
ONLINE HEALTH DECLARATION FORM, this is an online form from PAL that you have to fill up prior to traveling which will generate a QR Code for them to track your health declaration. You have to save this via your email for easy access during airport checks.
TRAZE APP, is a mandatory app that you have to have prior to traveling. You can download the app and register in it for easier and hassle free travel during check ins.
Requirements: From Cebu City to Davao City
CONFIRMED TICKET BOOKING, again to present that you are flying on this certain dates.
BARANGAY CERTIFICATE, this is to certify that you have undergone a 14 day home quarantine prior to your travels and that you are not a person under monitoring or person under investigation.
MEDICAL CERTIFICATE, to certify that you are fit to travel with no influenza like illness and no restrictions. So, you have to undergo a medical check up by a physician from the municipality that you belonged.
CERTIFICATE FROM THE MAYOR'S OFFICE, this is to certify that you are allowed to travel outside of the border of the municipality that you live. This certificate is only given once you have the above mentioned certificates at hand.
TRAVEL AUTHORITY/ POLICE CLEARANCE, the travel authority allows you to travel and be granted access in different checkpoints and borders of the municipality you're leaving and of the city you will travel to. Only given once you have all the other certificates at hand.
LETTER OF ACCEPTANCE, just like the requirement of Cebu, we needed a letter indicating that we are allowed to stay in our point of destination. It just so happen that we also own a house here in Davao. So my father made the request for a letter of acceptance but only after we sent him a copy of all the certificates that we have acquired.
RT PCR TEST, as part of the safety protocol and requirement of Davao City upon entering - my mother and I needed to present a negative swab test. Requirement is 72 hrs prior to flying. But I would suggest getting the test done 2 days before since it takes some time for the result to come in - around 12-18hrs after swabbing.
ONLINE HEALTH DECLARATION, same as the online portal you need to access for PAL passengers prior to flying.
DAVAO QR Code, if you're from Davao City then this comes handy because all of us has been using this at the start of the year and late last year. For those coming in to Davao City, it is best to register for the Davao QR Code since this is a requirement in most establishments for entry. NO QR CODE, NO ENTRY.
TRAZE APP, same app as I mentioned above. This is now mandatory and is valid for 3 years.
DAVAO CITY HEALTH DECLARATION, before entering Davao City, same as with the PAL portal of health declaration - Davao City has it's own portal which generates QR Code for easier access to your data once you arrived at the Davao City Airport.
Woah! Writing all the requirement made me feel exhausted and that's how I felt the entire time. We flew to Cebu to get a second opinion on my swollen left leg as well as do the PET Scan which is not available in Davao but thinking about going through all the paperworks is dreading.
They may seem easy and very accessible but the idea of having to take a queue and wait for minutes to hours to get the certificates is a little difficult considering social distancing and all those safety protocols but this is now the new normal which we all have to get used to. Also some of the documents are charged with a minimal fee which is below 100php but the rest if free of charge.
As of writing, some of the protocols have already changed or been updated but as the saying goes,"if there's a will, there's a way." If traveling if your cup of tea then these requirements are nothing new. Plane tickets and hotels are obviously on big discounts now. I don't promote tourism just yet but hey, if you have the budget and if you're itching to fly out then do it the new normal way - safe, healthy and filled with precautions with your face masks, face shield and sanitizers aka alcohol.
