The Palawan Wildlife Rescue and Conservation Center (PWRCC) began accommodating tours on Monday, but with a reduced number of visitors in keeping with minimum health protocols.
PWRCC officer-in-charge Dir. Elegio Adelantar said they have started accepting tours, with a maximum of 20 persons for a 15-minute guided tour of the facility.
“Meron tayong safety precaution dito sa center like also sa ibang protocol din. One is ‘yong face mask, niri-require natin sila. ‘Yong temperature checking is also conducted, paghuhugas ng kamay, social distancing din. May marks din from ticketing booth na one meter distance,” he said.
Tour operation was also adjusted from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. to give time for disinfection before and after tours.
Adelantar said that during its first day of re-opening, they only had less than 10 local guests.
He added that the souvenir shops and photo booths are still closed.
The government-run attraction, which used to accommodate 500 to 700 visitors each day before the pandemic, is struggling to bounce back after suffering income losses due to the disruption of its tours that serve as its main source of revenue to fund operations.
“Wala talaga, totally wala. Ang ating kuryente mataas, tubig natin, ang ating mga personnel din. At saka before mag-start na ‘yong ating ECQ before, naghanda rin tayo para sa mga wildlife natin at crocodiles, para hindi sila mapabayaan,” Adelantar said.
“Siguro malaki rin (ang losses) pero hindi ko makuha ‘yong estimate kasi meron kaming graph na sinusunod nandoon sa record pero malaki talaga, zero talaga kasi wala talaga. Kung meron ka daily na ganon ang guests mo times sabihin mo na lang 30 days or 20 days, malaking kawalan lalo na yong mga foreigner,” he added.
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