THE Office of the President, on the recommendation of the Department of Health and the Department of Foreign Affairs, has included the United States among the countries subject to travel restrictions.
This expands to 21 the number of countries and areas the Philippines has subjected to travel restrictions since a new coronavirus strain, believed to be more transmissible, was discovered in the United Kingdom.
See the list of countries and areas earlier subjected to travel restrictions.
Rules on passengers merely transiting through these areas were also released Friday, January 1.
Below is the announcement made by Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque on his Facebook page around 4 p.m. Friday:
Foreign passengers coming from the US, or who have been to the US within 14 days preceding arrival in the Philippines, shall be prohibited from entering the country effective January 3, 2021, 12:01 a.m., Manila time, until January 15, 2021.
On the other hand, effective immediately, passengers coming from the US, or who have been to the US within 14 days immediately preceding arrival in the Philippines, arriving before January 3, 2021, 12:01 a.m., Manila time, shall be allowed to enter the Philippines. However, they shall be required to undergo an absolute facility-based 14-day quarantine period, even if they obtain a negative RT-PCR test result.
Also, effective immediately, Filipino citizens coming from the US, or who have been to the US, within 14 days immediately preceding arrival in the Philippines, including those arriving January 3, 2021, 12:01 a.m., Manila time, shall be allowed to enter the Philippines. However, they shall be required to undergo an absolute facility-based 14-day quarantine period, even if they obtain a negative RT-PCR test result.
Further, the Office of the President provided the following rules to Filipino and foreign passengers merely transiting through a country covered by travel restrictions:
A. All passengers, Filipinos or foreigners alike, merely transiting through any of the countries covered by the Memorandum of the Executive Secretary, dated 29 December 2020, and other succeeding memos, shall not be deemed as having come from or having been to that country, provided the passengers stayed in the airport the whole time and they were not cleared for entry by the immigration authorities of the said country covered by our travel restrictions.
B. The abovementioned passengers (in A) who arrive in the Philippines are not required to complete a 14-day facility-based quarantine and may be allowed home quarantine after getting a negative RT-PCR test result at point of entry.
C. Transiting foreign passengers who left the airport or were cleared for entry into the country covered by our travel restrictions shall be prohibited from entering the Philippines.
D. Transiting Filipino citizens who left the airport or were cleared for entry into the country covered by our travel restrictions shall be allowed to enter the Philippines. However, they shall be required to undergo an absolute facility-based 14-day quarantine period, even if they obtain a negative RT-PCR test result. (SunStar Cebu)