The facade of Bacolod City Government Center (PNA Bacolod file photo) BACOLOD CITY - Mayor Evelio Leonardia has asked the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) to step in the conflicting policies of the city government and the Negros Occidental provincial government regarding the Safe, Swift, and Smart Passage (S-PaSS) travel coordination permit. Leonardia said on Wednesday he sent a letter to DILG-Western Visayas regional director Juan Jovian Ingeniero, requesting help to resolve the issue after the province continued to require an S-PaSS from Bacolod-bound passengers arriving at the Bacolod-Silay Airport in Silay City. This is contrary to Executive Order 53 that he issued removing such requirement after the city was placed under Alert Level 2 from November 15 to 30. "This difference in the travel documentation requirements has spawned confusion among the constituent-travelers of Bacolod City, and especially within the airlines.We believe that should the province
BACOLOD CITY - The city government here will continue to accommodate Safe, Swift, and Smart Passage (S-PaSS) applications of airline passengers, although a travel coordination permit is no longer required for those bound for Bacolod. This developed after the Negros Occidental provincial government, which has jurisdiction over Silay City, where the Bacolod-Silay Airport is located, mandated the submission of S-PaSS by passengers passing through the province going to this capital city. While waiting for legal advice from the city government, Councilor Israel Salanga, chair of the action team on returning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), said on Wednesday the S-PaSS requirement be resumed in compliance with the "demand" of the provincial government. "As much as we wanted to make things easy for you, the airport in Silay is under the jurisdiction of the province, that's why their (order) should be followed instead," Salanga said in a Facebook post, addressing the r