FILIPINOS may now fly out of the Philippines as the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases lifted the ban on non-essential outbound travel beginning last Wednesday, October 21.
Malacañang on Friday, October 16, announced that the IATF approved the removal of travel restrictions during its recent meeting.
“In the same 79th meeting, the IATF lifted the restriction of non-essential outbound travel of Filipinos effective October 21, 2020,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said.
According to him, Filipino travelers are required to have negative antigen test results, confirmed plane tickets, and health and travel insurance.
“They may be allowed to leave the country subject to the submission of confirmed roundtrip tickets and adequate travel and health insurance for those traveling in tourist visas, execution of an immigration declaration acknowledging the risks involved in traveling and a negative antigen (test) result taken within 24 hours before departure, subject to the Department of Health (DOH) guidelines,” Roque said.
Filipino travelers are also required to follow the existing rules for returning overseas Filipinos as they return home such as undergoing a swab test and the mandatory 14-day quarantine.
“Yung mga Pilipino na merong mga fiance at mga iniibig sa ibang bansa, pupuwede niyo na po silang dalawin doon sa ibang bansa (Filipinos who have fiances in other countries, you may now visit them there),” Roque said.
The national government has also recently allowed non-essential travel between areas placed under the general community quarantine (GCQ) and modified GCQ subject to the regulations imposed by the local government unit (LGU).
Likewise, hotels in GCQ and MGCQ areas are now allowed to operate at full capacity.
According to Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat, the IATF’s decision to ease travel restrictions would help revive the country’s tourism industry.
