BACOLOD CITY - The province of Negros Occidental and this capital city have contrasting policies on the requirement for coordination permit under the Safe, Swift, and Smart Passage (S-PaSS) travel management system. Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz II said on Monday they will continue to require an S-PaSS permit for inbound travelers, after the city government here announced that such document is no longer required for Bacolod-bound passengers who are fully-vaccinated, traveling by land, sea or air. "It is not wise for us to let our guards down and allow unimpeded travel without protocols," Diaz said in an interview with Capitol reporters. Removing the S-PaSS requirement is "not legal," Diaz said, citing Resolution 101 of the national Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF), which prescribes S-PaSS as the mode by which travelers can upload all documentation for proper recording. "It's the way that we can check and verify the requirements from vaccination cards to negative RT-PCR (reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction) tests. Without which, we will be delegating the checking of these documents to airport and airline personnel, which is not fair. They cannot do it on their own. We have to be the ones to do it," Diaz, also the action officer of the provincial IATF, said. Negros Occidental and Bacolod City are under Alert Level 2 until November 30. Bacolod, being a highly-urbanized city, is independent from Negros Occidental, which has 19 municipalities and 12 component cities under its jurisdiction, including Silay City, where the Bacolod-Silay Airport is located. Diaz said it is not advisable to lift the S-PaSS requirementas the Alert Level 2 status is temporary. He said the pronouncements of Bacolod officials are "misleading" and "creating confusion" by saying the S-PaSS is no longer needed. "It's not helping the passengers. It's not helping our cause against controlling Covid-19 from entering Negros Occidental," Diaz said, adding that the province will continue to require S-PaSS "because it is legal, because it is safe". "We are trying to protect the safety of all passengers and all residents of Negros Occidental, including Bacolod," he added. Considering that passengers from Manila have to pass through Silay if their destination is the capital city, the provincial government will require Bacolod-bound passengers to still submit an S-PaSS, which they can obtain from the Silay local government unit. In a statement, Em Legaspi-Ang, executive director of Bacolod City Emergency Operations Center Task Force, reminded port managers to follow the guidelines set by Executive Order 53 of Mayor Evelio Leonardia, allowing entryinto Bacolod without the need for an S-PaSS since the city has already been placed under Alert Level 2. She added fully inoculated passengers only need to present a vaccination card when traveling to Bacolod while those unvaccinated are required to present a negative RT-PCR test result obtained within 72 hours prior to arrival. (PNA) }