Bureau of Immigration (BI) officers gear up in preparation for the imposed travel restrictions for travelers coming from India.
According to BI Commissioner Jaime Morente, they received a copy of the resolution from the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) barring the entry of travelers coming from India or those with a travel history to India within the last 14 days preceding arrival beginning April 29 until May 14.
“We will implement this measure seen by the IATF as our response to the emerging situation in India,” said Morente.
Said ban has been imposed following the detection and spread of a new covid variant first detected in India. “The IATF deems that this proactive restriction must be put in place to slow down the surge in Covid-19 cases, stop further spread of variants, and allow the health system to prepare, essentially protecting more lives,” he added.
BI Port Operations Division Chief Atty. Carlos Capulong clarified that the travel ban is not ‘nationality-specific’ and applies to any traveler coming from the region.
BI Implements IATF resolution barring travelers from India
“We are conducting 100% passport inspection to determine the travel history of an arriving person,” said Capulong. “If we see that the traveler has been to India within the last 14 days, then he will be excluded and boarded on the next available flight back to his port of origin,” he added.
Capulong added that they are not expecting incoming passengers from India as the IATF resolution clearly stated that airlines are directed not to allow the boarding of passengers pursuant to travel restrictions.
“Passengers already in transit who will arrive before April 29 may be allowed, but will be referred to the appropriate agencies for stricter quarantine and testing protocols, to be subjected to an absolute facility-based 14-day quarantine period,” Capulong explained.
Meanwhile, some Filipinos there want to return to the Philippines because of the increasing number of COVID-19 infections there. Some of them recounted how serious the situation of the patients there was because the hospitals were already full.
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