The Bureau of Immigration (BI) clarified that foreign tourists are not yet allowed to enter the Philippines despite coming from green list countries.
In a statement, BI Commissioner Jaime Morente reiterated that only Filipinos, balikbayan, and those with valid and existing long term visas from green and yellow list countries are allowed to enter.
He said the reiteration came as the Bureau received numerous queries from foreign tourists who wish to fly to the Philippines already.
Morente added that Filipinos coming from red list countries may return via repatriation flights and bayanihan flights organized by government or non-government agencies.
On Friday, the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID) released an updated list of Red, Green and Yellow List counries.
Said lists are effective starting October 16, 2021 up to October 31, 2021.
Romania has been classified under Red List, while 49 countries have been placed under the green list.
Included in the Green List are Algeria, American Samoa, Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cayman Islands, Chad, China (Mainland), Comoros, Republic of the Congo, Cook Islands, Eritrea, Falkland Islands (Malvinas), Gibraltar, Hong Kong (Special Administrative Region of China), Kiribati, Madagascar, Mali, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Montserrat, Nauru, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Niue, North Korea, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Poland, Saba (Special Municipality of the Kingdom of the Netherlands), Saint Helena, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Samoa, Sierra Leone, Sint Eustatius, Solomon Islands, Sudan, Syria, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Tokelau, Tonga, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu and Yemen.
The IATF-MEID said that all other countries not mentioned are classified under the Yellow List.
BI clarifies entry of alien tourists not yet allowed in PH
The testing and quarantine protocols of those arriving under these lists, according to the IATF-MEID, shall be implemented and monitored by the Bureau of Quarantine.
“Despite these travel restrictions, we remain hopeful that international travel will be safely revived soon,” said Morente.
Last week, Malacañang announced fully vaccinated travelers arriving in the Philippines are no longer required to undergo mandatory quarantine in a facility.
However, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said travelers must present a negative result from a COVID-19 RT-PCR test 72 hours before their departure from their country of origin.
They are also required to undergo home quarantine for 14 days.
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