Chiu
Meeting travel restrictions during pandemic
February 24, 2021
From our own experience, traveling to some destinations in Luzon is possible, with varying degree of difficulties for meeting the requirements under COVID-19 rules.
Going to Tagaytay is possible, and no one has ever reported being stopped at any check point.
Going to Subic Bay, on the other hand, requires prior booking and securing health certificate from your local medical center, which, in the case of Taguig City, is free of charge.
Some places, such as Batangas, require visitors to have antigen test. It costs around P2,500 per test (nose swap is slightly more expensive than the newly approved saliva test), and takes about an hour to get the result. Some local authorities, such as the one at Barangay Mabini near Anilao in Batangas, have put up antigen test booths next to their checkpoint, and these booths charge about P1,000 per test, we were advised.
Yet other places, like Boracay and Palawan, require the more expensive PCR-RT test, which costs about P4,000 and can take a day or two to get the result.