Great Facebook Page for Province Travel Restrictions

[Jollygoodfellow]

2 hours ago, Snowy79 said:

Been there twice and pretty much told " our rules. " The first time my partner actually missed her boat as they refused to let her board for not having Barangay acceptance even though she had a letter stating it's not required. 

So you may as well say no tourist can come to Boracay. 

[Snowy79]

49 minutes ago, Jollygoodfellow said:

So you may as well say no tourist can come to Boracay. 

The majority of tourists are from Maila and on a package where the hotels organise everything, swab test plus all the relevant paperwork and escorted by representatives of the hotel.  They have just cleared approval for the saliva test so let's see if they stick by that rule. 🤔

The issue is National government says one thing, the Governor says something else, the Mayor throws his peso in then the Barangay have more input.  Just when you think you've covered all bases the private operators of the ferries and ports impliment their own rules. The system is a shambles.  Just watching the local destination Boracay Facebook you can see hundreds of people being messed around. Many losing their holidays and money. 

[DaveB]

Lot of stuff here that comes under the general heading "life in the Philippines".  As I've noted in other posts, this isn't some place for anyone with OCD.  We all learn two of the approaches mentioned here: first, you almost always have to just go, engage, and find out real time what is needed, on this and every other topic from getting a bank account to just travel; second: yep...when there's a line at more than one counter, step back, watch how they're going for a while, pick the line with the apparently most cooperative agent.  Doesn 't always work, but it increases the odds.

Returning to the topic of the URL that started this thread, and as a example of the ensuing discussion:  Note the one I originally posted is dated March 4.  I since got a link to one dated March 14 (if I was more Facebook savvy, I'd likely know how to get there myself).  One thing I applaud: someone is going to a lot of trouble to keep this thing up to date.  So while we all know there's always room for surprises, it is a pretty good starting point.  So I still recommend it.

Under the heading of "FCF" I note that on March 4, Bataan province is listed as "open, no restrictions".  On March 14, same thing, BUT Morong requires a COVID test.  Meanwhile I happen to know from personal conversation that the two cock fighting arenas in that area are open to the public, including outsiders, no restrictions.  So...my conclusion is that, if I want to visit Moring I need to show up either with a COVID test or a chicken.

And that's how I deal with it.  Love the Filipinos, happy to be here, but ya just gotta roll with things.  Eventually, amazingly (and maybe with perseverance and work) it all somehow manages to get there.  I warn people who are thinking about the place, if you aren't willing to put up with that approach to things, you probably shouldn't live here.  And a bottle of antacids is often good to keep handy, too.