MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine government has lifted the travel restriction on passengers from over 30 countries with known cases of the Covid-19 variant, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said.
“Yung dati nating status quo bago nagkaroon ng mga travel ban, restrictions sa iba’t ibang bansa ay babalik po tayo sa status quo na ‘yun,” Nograles said in an interview over Teleradyo.
(Our status quo before we had travel ban, restrictions on other countries, we will return to that status quo.)
Earlier, the government limited the entry of foreign passengers following the detection of the Covid-19 variant, said to be more infectious, in various parts of the world.
“Hindi ibig sabihin ang turista ay maaari nang pumasok dito, hindi po. Yun lamang may visas na existing at valid,” Nograles noted.
(It does not mean we’re now open to tourists. Only those with existing and valid visas are allowed.)
Nograles noted that the country may still impose the restrictions based on the available capacity of quarantine facilities.
Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles
“Anytime na tingin po natin, yung Bureau ng Immigration at Bureau of Quarantine, na medyo hindi na makakaya ng ating capcity to accept foreign nationals ay puwede po tayong magsuspend muli,” he said.
(Once we see that the Bureau of Immigration and the Bureau of Quarantine can no longer handle foreign arrivals, we can suspend their entry again.)
According to the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF), foreign nationals allowed inside the Philippines are those with valid visas and former Filipino nationals qualified under the Balikbayan program.
Other conditions set for their entry to the country are having a pre-booked accommodation for at least seven nights in an accredited quarantine hotel or facility and being subject to Covid-19 swab test on the sixth day from the date of their arrival.
READ: Philippines sets new rules for arriving foreign nationals starting Feb 1