"COVID passport" is essential for the tourism and travel industry to recover, Cebu Pacific Air President and CEO Lance Gokongwei said on Monday.

In a televised Palace press briefing, Gokongwei cited the need to work with other countries regarding the COVID passport, which would serve as a proof that a passenger has been vaccinated against coronavirus disease.

"We do think that's essential especially as we open up international travel," he said.

Gokongwei said there are various vaccines being developed abroad.

"I think we have to work on a global COVID passport so that each country respects the passport and recognizes that if you do have this COVID passport, that you have already been vaccinated by a credible vaccination source," he said.

He proposed that the implementation of the COVID passport should be initiated by the governments.

"I think this has to be led at the G-to-G basis but definitely I think it's essential for - if the tourism and travel industry is to recover, this is an absolute necessity," the businessman added.

Asked if the COVID passport could further damage the international travel industry as people might not have immediate access to the vaccines, Gokongwei said, "Unless we resolve the confidence issue and the safety issue which can only happen with herd immunity and vaccine that there's nothing to be spoken about."

"So that has to be the number one priority... to get vaccines as much of the population, the global population as possible and then connecting this to a COVID passport so that everybody, each country trusts that when we say a passenger has had the vaccine, that he indeed has already achieved that levels of antibodies so that he will not be infectious to anybody else. So I think, that’s job number one," he explained. Celerina Monte/DMS