Concepcion: Let Pinoys from North America come home this Christmas

MANILA, Philippines — Presidential adviser for entrepreneurship and Go Negosyo founder Joey Concepcion appealed anew to the government to remove the facility-based quarantine requirement for vaccinated passengers from North America to get more overseas Filipinos to come home for the holiday season.

“The increased vaccination rates and the dip in new COVID-19 cases should be reason enough for the IATF (Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases) to consider easing restrictions on travelers coming from North America,” he said in a statement yesterday.

“Our kababayans want to come back and reunite with their loved ones,” he added.

In making the renewed call for easing of restrictions for passengers from North America, he said the required time to stay in a quarantine facility is the main reason for putting off travel plans.

As the US and Canada are not included in the Philippines’ green list of countries, travelers from North America need to take a COVID-19 test after five days at a quarantine facility.

Concepcion has proposed that travelers coming from North America get tested before boarding the flight and to be tested again either at home if they live within the National Capital Region (NCR) or at a quarantine hotel once they arrive in the Philippines.

The proposal will require passengers to have confirmed schedules for testing.

“Testing before departure and testing upon arrival with no quarantine required will be beneficial for a lot of balikbayans wanting to see their families. They can do testing at their homes if within NCR or in a facility for one day if they are from other places,” Concepcion said.

“We can do this to give peace of mind to our returning Filipinos and their loved ones. Waiting for a negative test result is a small price to pay compared to this reassurance,” he added.

Data from flag carrier Philippine Airlines showed positivity rates among travelers coming from North America have been low.

According to OCTA Research, NCR has vaccinated over 85 percent of its target population, and the number of new cases dropped to an average of 600 cases per day.

Concepcion also said new COVID-19 cases in the country have been going down since October, with the rolling seven-day average dipping to less than 3,000 since Nov. 2, and the number of new cases at levels not seen since before the Delta variant was detected in the country.

Last month, Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez, said the bulk or 90 percent of US-based Filipinos have already been vaccinated and want to visit the Philippines but have concerns on the quarantine protocols.

Concepcion said easing travel restrictions for travelers from North America would encourage economic activity in the last quarter of the year when consumption spending is expected to be strong given the holiday season and upcoming elections.

“Many MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises) are counting on the increased holiday and pre-election spending to help them recover from the losses during the pandemic. They will be able to pay back their loans and earn enough to provide for their workers’ 13th month pay. There are many things that depend on letting our kababayans come home this Christmas,” he said.