Dumaguete Info Search


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  1. eskirvin

    eskirvin DI Forum Adept Blood Donor Veteran Navy

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    I'm in Manila as of yesterday. The process to get here is simple when they first tell you it is only two steps, then it becomes almost intolerably more complex in execution.

    Step 1) Get a medical certificate.
    Step 2) Obtain "Authority to Travel"

    That's it! So simple, right? Now, the real process is below. Words of Philippine origin may be misspelled because I didn't go to school here. My apologies in advance.

    1a) Obtain Barangay clearance. This certifies that you correctly participated in a 14 day quarantine, self or otherwise. They'll consult their records, ask some basic medical questions, maybe take your temperature and blood pressure, then give you their clearance. The place I was sent to in Bayawan seemed like a government clinic.
    1b) Take said "Barangay Clearance" to the "City Health Office" in your municipality. They will do everything stated in step 1a, but each task will be split between multiple desks, which may or may not have a person manning it at any given time. "Sir, kindly wait." Shortly before your patience runs out, they will ask you if you've paid.
    1c) Proceed to some obscure place, that they'll give you some landmarks to find, and pay 50 pesos for the medical certificate fee. I have no idea what this place was called, but we found it and paid. My wife seems to recall it may be the "City Health Treasury Office."
    1d) Return to the "City Health Office" and try to find someone and tell them you've got your receipt. After providing the receipt, you will be asked to kindly wait. For us, there was a step 1e at this point, basically explaining the circumstances of our quarantine, despite having received a "Barangay Clearance", to another person, prior to him telling someone to go type it. We were then presented with a "Medical Certificate" that states they weren't aware of us having the disease and that we didn't appear at the time to have symptoms.

    2a) Obtain Mayor's signature for "Availability of Travel." I don't know why the mayor of Bayawan knows, but he does. This step took 3 days the first time, 2 hours the second time. Be generous with explaining why you need it quickly and they seem to step up to the plate to get it done.
    2b) Ask to hand carry the papers to the PNP for the next step. If you have a copier in your vehicle, you may be able to avoid needing to run off somewhere to get a copy for their records. Not hand carrying the papers resulted in the initial 3 days period. It was Friday, people had other things to do, and they got it to the PNP on Monday.
    2c) Obtain the signature of the "Chief of Police" for the municipality. This shouldn't be a step, because getting the signature means you are done, but you'll most likely have to leave a phone number which won't be called, and then have to go back later, twice in my case, to catch him/her when present.
    2d) Pick up your signed "Authority to Travel" "COVID SHIELD" document, with a control number on it.
    2e) You now have the document that needs to be presented to medical personal at the airport to obtain the "Medical Certificate" they will give you for presentation to the airline, which will allow you to travel. They will take your temperature again and ask questions to see if you still remember how to answer them, prior to giving you the certificate.

    We were told more than once, the papers were only good for a day, 2 days, 3 days, or the month of July, so I'm not really sure how long they are supposed to be good for. My papers were dated 2 July and my wife's were dated 9 July and we both boarded a plane on the 10th of July.

    A PCR test was not required to fly from Dumaguete to Manila. My airline, Emirates, states a PCR has to be done no more than 96 hours prior to travel, so you if you combine that information with what I stated above for the clearance, you'll probably decide as I did, to get clearance and fly to Manila for the test. My wife and I waited for 4 hours in the St. Luke's BGC emergency room on the 10th, paid 6600 pesos each, and expect to get our results tomorrow. I'm happy to answer any questions.
     
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  2. eskirvin

    eskirvin DI Forum Adept Blood Donor Veteran Navy

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    My wife and I arrived in Dubai on the 15th of July and were herded into an area to be tested again. Most countries around the world are not required to have a test prior to boarding, but the Philippines is one of the lucky few. To me, it seems like nothing more than a financial barrier to prevent Filipinos from travelling to Dubai, as you've got to get tested at 6600 pesos each, then stay in a hotel to await results. You're boarding a plane with a bunch of negative test result passengers, flying direct to Dubai, then you've got to get tested upon landing. I think they way they do it when you land is the only real way to help stop the spread.

    I can't imagine the number of people who've missed flights or had to re-book at their expense for improperly estimating the amount of time needed to get the results of their test to try and save money on a hotel stay, but it has to be a lot. It took almost 2 days to get the test results to us, and the results have to be provided within 96 hours of flight. I spent more money on our hotel because I thought you needed to take the TEST within 96 hours, not get the results. You "could" get tested in Dumaguete, wait the 2 or 3 days to get the results, then make a mad scramble to fulfill all of the other requirements. It is a tight window, but possible. I guess you'd have to be prepared to spend more on your short notice flight though...
     
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  3. eskirvin

    eskirvin DI Forum Adept Blood Donor Veteran Navy

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    Well, I've left out a lot of consternation and uncertainty to leave the information in a more distilled format. For the parts that happened in Bayawan, I recently purchased a vehicle and was able to drive about to the random places they needed me to go. I won't go into the PAL experience as it still infuriates me, unless someone needs to know of the highway robbery.

    As for the Emirates flight, my wife and I had return tickets to Kuwait that brought us here and were to return us to Kuwait on the 29th of March 2020. I called Emirates to re-book them, but was told I could not use them because I would be creating an "open trip" as Kuwait is not currently allowing any non-citizen inbound flights. The UAE will be an interim stop, necessary because Kuwait will allow returns from the UAE on the 1st of August, but not the Philippines.

    So I booked an entirely new ticket to Dubai for the 11th of July on the 7th, and received an email on the 8th stating the UAE had changed their policy for allowing visitors from the Philippines to enter the country. Regardless of the nation of citizenship, people traveling from the Philippines would now need a negative PCR test issued 96 hours prior to travel from an accredited hospital. I knew there was less than a zero percent chance of obtaining a PCR test result prior to the 11th, so while waiting on the plane for takeoff in Dumaguete, I re-booked my ticket and bought my wife a ticket for the 15th, just on a prayer, not with any real knowledge of a timeline. Through phone calls, it seemed like the time frame was between 1 and 5 days, so it seemed safe.

    We chose to go to St. Luke's at BGC in Manila as they seemed the most professional over the phone, through many calls to many hospitals I placed while still in Negros. After a 4 hour wait and numerous questionnaires in the emergency room, we had 2 procedures, one in the nose and one in the back of the throat using swabs and were told we'd get results via email in 1 to 2 days. It cost 6600 pesos each person. As I write this, I haven't received the results, but it hasn't been 24 hours yet.
     
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  4. SkipJack

    SkipJack DI Senior Member

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    Hang in there @eskirvin . The next traveler may want to know that Cebu has in airport testing now. Hmmm. When will a hospital in Dumaguete be approved for testing?

     
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  5. Notmyrealname

    Notmyrealname DI Forum Luminary Highly Rated Poster Showcase Reviewer

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    This is a remarkably detailed piece of information and, even though I have no need for it, I appreciate the effort you put into writing it.

    Also admire your patience.
     
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  6. shakey

    shakey DI Member Veteran Navy

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    It would be informative if those "Virtual" friends would give us the particulars on how they escaped Negros and what is going on in Manila getting their flights out.

    Where locally did they get the Rapid test and what paperwork was necessary to get on a sweeper flight.

    Were they quarantined on arrival in Manila and or the U.S. if applicable.

    We all have opinions but facts matter.

    shakey aka John
     
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  7. shakey

    shakey DI Member Veteran Navy

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    How did you know what date to book your Emirates flight with all of the unknown delay. In your case 2 nights at least in a hotel waiting and numerous P400 taxi rides really adds to the expense and of course BI will extract the last Pisos in your pocket before allowing you into the transit area.

    I and most of us appreciate your pioneering spirit!!!

    The old and infirm won't be able to make the "Great Escape" and die in our beds if we have the misfortune of contracting Covid.

    When you arrive at your destination please continue this "never ending" story so we can envy you two. :smile:

    shakey aka John
     
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  8. shakey

    shakey DI Member Veteran Navy

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    If your friend in America consults with his attorney who approves of a faxed POA notarized here by any local attorney, I have used Bethel for international faxing.

    I sold property in the US and handled the paperwork by fax.

    shakey aka John
     
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  9. Show Pony

    Show Pony DI Forum Patron Highly Rated Poster Showcase Reviewer

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    If you get a sweeper flight make sure you and the airline "understand" it's a sweeper flight.
    My neighbor bought tickets online for ordinary flights that were cancelled at the last minute. The airline was more than happy to sell them new tickets on their sweeper flight. Same dam* plane same destination.
     
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  10. NowandThen

    NowandThen DI Forum Adept Restricted Account

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    Thank you for this detailed info. This must have been a nightmare for you or still is. Lucky I could escape early March just before all this started. But now I'm stranded here in Europe and my return flight cancelled. So who knows if this Corona travel mayhem will go on for months. Maybe I should start preparing myself for the european winter..................

    Gesendet von meinem SM-N950F mit Tapatalk
     
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