By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

Negros Occidental’s provincial administrator, Atty. Rayfrando Diaz, yesterday said they will look into the complaint of Bacolod City Mayor Evelio Leonardia after he released a statement on Monday claiming that there were no personnel from the provincial government who are monitoring the arrival of passengers bound for destinations outside of Bacolod City.

In a statement released by Leonardia, he said they have intercepted a traveler from the town of Hinigaran who presented an expired RT-PCR test result to authorities.

The traveler, who was bound for Iloilo, was ultimately denied boarding.

Leonardia claimed that the city monitoring team lead by Andrew Agravante immediately contacted the Provincial Incident Management Team, however, there was no answer and they were forced to contact the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office instead.

“I have to confirm that, pero as far as our DRRMO teams they are diligent in their responsibilities,” Diaz said.

Diaz said they don’t have any personnel staying at the port for 24 hours and they only report to the BREDCO port depending on the passenger vessel that is scheduled to dock at a particular day.

He pointed out there is now free regional passage between Iloilo and Negros Occidental, and the mayors in both sides have agreed that there will be no more restriction of travel particularly Bacolod City and Iloilo City.

As for trips originating from Metro Manila or Batangas, Diaz pointed out they know the schedule of arrival courtesy of the Coast Guard Station-Negros Occidental.

They also have prior knowledge as to who are the Negros Occidental-bound passengers as the vessel operators regularly submit their respective passenger manifest./DGB, WDJ