THE Philippines may soon welcome fully-vaccinated tourists from “green list” countries, according to Malacañang.
Acting Presidential Spokesperson and Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles on Friday, November 19, said the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) is finalizing the guidelines for tourists coming from low-risk countries.
“There are just a few things that we need to tweak but the reason why we’re announcing it is because we’re putting the entire world in advance notice that we will eventually open up our shores to tourists from green list countries,” he said.
Likewise, the Philippine Department of Tourism (DOT) announced that the IATF “has approved in principle the entry of fully vaccinated tourists from green list countries/territories/jurisdictions” upon the agency’s request.
“Allowing tourists from green countries or territories that have the majority of its population vaccinated and with low infection rate, will greatly help in our recovery efforts–increasing tourist arrivals and receipts among others,” said Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat.
“This move will likewise aid in bolstering consumer confidence, which is a large contributor to our gross domestic product or GDP growth,” she added.
Puyat also assured that the proposal to open leisure travel from “green countries” will be based on strict conditions.
Further, she said that a Special Technical Working Group on Travel has been tasked to immediately come up with the guidelines on international travel to be approved by the IATF.
“Our ASEAN neighbors like Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia also did the same. We believe that it is also time for us to reopen our borders for inbound tourism as a way towards full recovery,” noted Puyat.
Green list
Based on the latest IATF Resolution, the following countries have been classified under the “green list” from Nov. 16 to 30:
- American Samoa
- Bhutan
- Chad
- China (Mainland)
- Comoros
- Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast)
- Falkland Islands (Malvinas)
- Federated States of
Micronesia
- Guinea
- Guinea-Bissau
- Hong Kong (Special Adminis- trative Region of China)
- India
- Indonesia
- Japan
- Kosovo
- Kuwait
- Kyrgyzstan
- Malawi
- Mali
- Marshall Islands
- Montserrat
- Morocco
- Namibia
- Niger
- Northern Mariana Islands
- Oman
- Pakistan
- Palau
- Paraguay
- Rwanda
- Saint Barthelemy
- Saint Pierre and Miquelon
- Saudi Arabia
- Senegal
- Sierra Leone
- Sint Eustatius
- South Africa
- Sudan
- Taiwan
- Togo
- Uganda
- United Arab Emirates
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
Meanwhile, Faroe Islands and The Netherlands are classified under the “red list.”
New testing, quarantine rules
Nograles also announced that the IATF has updated the testing and quarantine protocols for all international travelers entering the Philippines.
Fully-vaccinated Filipinos coming from countries under the “green list” who fail to take a reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test 72 hours prior to their departure are required to undergo facility-based quarantine until the release of their negative test result.
“After this, the individual is enjoined to self-monitoring until the 14th day of their arrival with the date of arrival being the first day,” said Nograles.
He also said that fully-vaccinated Filipinos with negative RT-PCR test results taken within 72 hours prior to their departure from green countries are no longer required to undergo facility-based quarantine and take another RT-PCR test.
Meanwhile, fully-vaccinated individuals coming from yellow countries who have pre-departure RT-PCR tests will undergo facility-based quarantine and take an RT-PCR test after three days.
“Upon release of a negative RT-PCR test, they may be discharged from facility quarantine. After which they are enjoined to self-monitor up to the 14th day from date of arrival,” Nograles said.
As for unvaccinated or partially vaccinated individuals, as well as those with unverified vaccination status, they will undergo facility-based quarantine until the release of a negative RT-PCR test taken on their fifth day in the Philippines and self-monitor until their 14th day of staying in the country.
“All passengers whether Filipinos or foreigners, merely transiting through non-green list jurisdictions, shall not be deemed as having come from or having been to the said country, territory or jurisdiction if they stayed in the airport the whole time and were not cleared for entry by its immigration authorities,” said Nograles.
On the other hand, those who were in red countries for the past 14 days will not be allowed to enter the Philippines, regardless of vaccination status.
Exempted from this are Filipinos returning through government-initiated or non-government-initiated repatriation and Bayanihan Flights, as well as passengers merely transiting through red list nations. n
