I am delighted to inform you that last night, we received word that the IATF has approved “Point-to-Point Travel.” This means that residents of NCR Plus will be able to fly from NAIA to Balesin and back, once our application for Point-to-Point Travel is approved.

We submitted our application this morning, and we will immediately inform you once the application is approved. We are aware that many of our members have been wanting to visit Balesin but are unable to, because of the NCR Plus lockdown. This new system allows NCR Plus residents to visit Balesin even with the lockdown in NCR Plus.

I would also like to take this opportunity to inform you that, in order to further ensure that Balesin is COVID-free, Dr. Ben Valdecañas, our Medical Director for AEGLE Wellness Center, has recommended, and I have approved, that all visitors to Balesin, if they stay longer than two days on the island, would have to be retested and get a swab on the third day of their stay. The rationale for this is that there could be cases where some may have been infected one to two days prior to their swab test, and antigen or PCR tests won’t detect it yet (the infection manifests itself only after two days). This further precaution, which is not really a bother, will ensure the safety of everyone on the island.

The last point I need to announce is that with immediate effect, all guests (but not members), will have to pay an additional Php1,000 per round trip. Thus, the present round trip fare for guests (including VAT), will be increased from Php6,720 to Php7,840. Again, this is only for guests, and the fare for members will remain the same at Php3,360.

We have, in fact, been subsidizing Balesin travel since late last year when the insurance premiums on our aircraft more than doubled. Also, as you all know, the price of Aviation fuel has increased very much recently.

I am looking forward to welcoming all of you back to Balesin soon!