Officials of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) announced on Saturday, the implementation of the temporary travel ban of passengers coming from 9 countries starting September 12.
The countries include Azerbaijan, Guadeloupe, Guam, Israel, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Saint Lucia, and Switzerland.
In an advisory, BI Commissioner Jaime Morente said that, following the recent directive from Malacañang, as recommended by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID), passengers coming from, or who have been in the said countries within the last 14 days prior to their arrival to the Philippines, shall temporarily be barred entry.
Morente further said that passengers already in transit from the 9 countries who will arrive before the implementation of the travel ban may be allowed to enter, subject to existing policies of the Bureau of Quarantine (BOQ).
BI Port Operations Division Chief Atty. Carlos Capulong shared that Filipinos arriving from countries under the red list under government or non-government repatriation programs or bayanihan flights, may be allowed entry but shall undergo a strict 14-day facility based quarantine, and be required a Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) test that will be monitored by the BOQ.
Capulong added that those who had a mere layover at the 9 countries are not covered by the travel ban.
Travel ban imposed in 9 countries – BI
The travel ban is set to take effect by 12:00 AM of September 12 until 11:59 PM of September 18, 2021.
Meanwhile, Capulong shared the countries under the green list as provided by the IATF. These include American Samoa, Anguilla, Australia, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cayman Islands, Chad, China, Comoros, Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Falkland Islands (Malvinas), Gabon, Grenada, Hong Kong (Special Administrative Region of China), Hungary, Mali, Federated States of Micronesia, Montserrat, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niger, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Poland, Saba, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Sierra Leone, Sint Eustatius, Slovakia and Taiwan.
Capulong clarified that aliens coming from the green list do not automatically qualify for entry to the Philippines.
“The general travel restrictions is still in effect. Only Filipinos, balikbayans, and foreigners with valid and existing visas are allowed to enter the Philippines,” said Capulong. “Those holding tourists visas remain restricted from entering,” he clarified.
According to the BI advisory, countries not in the red or green list are automatically included in the yellow list. Those coming from the yellow list are likewise subject to the general travel restrictions, and will be have to undergo quarantine and testing protocols, as implemented by the BOQ.
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