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MANILA—The delay in the processing of QR codes for travelers to the popular island destination of Boracay was due to lack of manpower and equipment, Malay town, Aklan Mayor Frolibar Bautista said on Friday.

“Ang nangyari, ang ibang staff sa validating office ay may mga absences daw. Nadagdagan na ng mga tao, mga equipment na kulang dinagdagaan,” Bautista said.

(Some staff from the validating office were absent. We added more people and equipment.)

• Boracay waives RT-PCR test for fully-vaxxed tourists starting Nov. 16

The solutions to the glitches came out of a meeting with the Department of Tourism, the provincial governor and stakeholders, Bautista said.

The Department of Tourism (DOT) said it received several reports from tourists who failed to go to Boracay due to the non-release of their QR code, a requirement.

“The past 2 days maraming hindi nakabiyahe sa Boracay dahil wala ’yung QR code nila. Nanawagan kami sa Boracay LGU na sana simplehan na ang travel requirements,” said Tourism Secretary Berna Romulo-Puyat.

[For the past 2 days people could not able to push through with their travels to Boracay because of the lack of QR Code. We called on Boracay LGU to simplify the travel requirements.)

Puyat said many Boracay-bound tourists were stressed out because of the issue with the QR codes.

Bautista said tourist arrivals on the island reached more than 2,000 a day.

The mayor added that changes to guidelines also contributed to the delay in the release of QR codes.

“Prior tayo nag-remove ng RT-PCR requirements may mga bookings na. Hindi na update ang kanilang QR codes, isa ’yun sa nangyaring delay sa change ng ating mga guidelines,” he said.

(There were already bookings prior to the removal of the RT-PCR requirements. Their QR codes were not updated and the change in our guidelines is one of the cause of the delay.)

Boracay no longer requires RT-PCR for fully vaccinated travelers. Only unvaccinated tourists need to submit a negative RT-PCR result 72 hours before departure, he said.

However, Bautista said it was not discussed in the meeting if tourists who failed to push through with the travel to Boracay due to the delay in the release of their QR codes would at least get some assistance from the local government.

“Ang provincial government ang in charge d’yan sa validation so hindi sa aming office ang nag-aaccept ng QR codes. Hindi namin na discuss ’yan during our meeting but ang napag-usapan namin ’yung mga solusyon sa nangyari sa nadelay na approval sa QR codes,” he said.

(The provincial government is in charge of validation, our office does not accept QR codes. That was not discussed during our meeting, only the solutions to the delay in the approval of QR codes.)

Puyat said the DOT has asked local government units to simplify their requirements to make it easier for tourists to travel. She said that aside from the QR Code, there is still the Stay Safe app, and the S-Pass requirement.