Free RT-PCR test provided to vegetable drivers, helpers in Benguet

La Trinidad, Benguet- Vegetable drivers and helpers at the La Trinidad Vegetable Trading Post (LTVTP) have been provided with a free Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) test which they can avail of at the Benguet Provincial Hospital.

The fees shall be shouldered by the provincial government, which was agreed upon during the recently conducted meeting dialogue by the provincial government and the stakeholders at LTVP.

Added to this, the validity of their RT-PCR negative results shall be extended from 72 hours to one week, which they can use as passes through checkpoint borders.

The move, according to Governor Melchor Diclas, was done to ensure the safety of the vegetable industry players along with their families and clients and to help the local economy through the delivery of vegetables produced by farmers in the province to their markets in Metro Manila and other provinces.

Vegetable stakeholders earlier expressed their concern on the high cost of the RT-PCR test as one of the requirements to be shown at border checkpoints in accordance with the Provincial Inter-Agency Task Force decision on September 1, 2021.

This is Benguet's one way of preventing Covid-19 virus cases to surge with the entry and exit of the possible sources, particularly from travellers and returning residents.

Aside from this, Diclas has also assured that vegetable industry players, especially those involved in the delivery of vegetables outside Benguet, will be prioritized in the COVID-19 vaccination with the new supply of vaccines to arrive next week.

In a statement through the Philippine Information Agency, Benguet Vegetable Truckers and Traders Association President Rodolfo Bulawan shared that, on average, vegetable truckers travel and deliver goods at least three times a week.

He added that the extended validity of the RT-PCR test and the prioritization of drivers and helpers on the vaccination program are a welcome development.

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