THE Department of Tourism (DOT) has announced the reopening of Rizal Park and three sites in Intramuros under limited capacity and shortened operating hours.
The decision to partially reopen three Intramuros sites came after the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) placed the National Capital Region (NCR) under Alert Level 4 from September 16 to 30, 2021.
Rizal Park will be open from 5 to 9 a.m. with a maximum capacity of 500 visitors at any given time, while Fort Santiago will be open from 9 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. from Monday to Friday and from 9 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays with a maximum capacity of 150 visitors at any given time.
Baluarte de San Diego, on the other hand, will be operating daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and will accommodate a maximum of 80 people at a time. Entrance fee for both sides remain at P75 for regular visitors and P50 for discounted eligible visitors. Plaza San Luis is free for those who want to visit, but only from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.
Only those within the age of 18 to below 65 shall be allowed.
Park goers are advised to download the StaySafe app for faster entry into the park premises. Manual contact tracing forms will still be available at entrances for those without access to mobile phones.
Bernadette Romulo-Puyat, DOT secretary, continuously urges tourists to strictly adhere to the health and safety protocols to sustain the resumption of tourism in the country.
To encourage more NCR residents to get their COVID-19 jabs, the DOT, through the Intramuros Administration (IA), will set up an express lane for fully-vaccinated individuals who wish to visit Fort Santiago and Baluarte San Diego.
By using the express lane, fully-vaccinated visitors are allowed to accomplish the mandatory contact tracing form when inside the sites and will only need to present it to security personnel before exit.
The DOT has also been promoting the use of its tourist sites to speed up the government’s vaccination efforts, partnering with the City of Manila to establish a drive-thru vaccination facility at the Quirino Grandstand in Rizal Park.
As an added assurance to visitors, the DOT also prioritized the vaccination of its workers.
Puyat shared that 99 percent of the workers in IA – including outsourced security and janitorial workers – have also been fully vaccinated as of September 14. Over 96 percent of all personnel stationed at Rizal Park have already received their complete COVID-19 vaccination.
