BI ready to place France in PH’s COVID-19 ‘red list’ on Dec. 10

MANILA, Philippines — The Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Thursday said that it is ready to implement the inclusion of France in the country’s red list on Friday, Dec. 10.

This came after Malacañang announced on Wednesday that it will be placing France on the country’s “red list” or list of countries deemed as high-risk for COVID-19 from December 10 to 15.

In a statement, BI Commissioner Jaime Morente said that with this, passengers coming from the said country are now temporarily barred from entering the Philippines.

Also included in the ban are passengers who have been to France within 14 days preceding arrival in the country.

“As with the other countries included in the ban, Filipinos coming in may return via government or non-government initiated repatriation and bayanihan flights,” said Morente.

Currently, the BI is implementing a travel ban from passengers coming from 14 other countries, namely: South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique, Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, and Italy.

BI Port Operations Division Chief Atty. Carlos Capulong then warned that airlines who board passengers coming from travel-restricted countries may face penalties for violating the Philippine Immigration Act.

RELATED STORIES:

PH updates ‘red list,’ travel ban imposed on 7 more countries

Health experts urge tighter border controls vs. Omicron variant threat

je