Philippines Oks vax certs of 8 more countries

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines has approved the COVID-19 vaccination certificates of eight more countries, Cabinet Secretary and acting presidential spokesman Karlo Nograles said yesterday.

Nograles said the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Disease (IATF) approved on Sunday the acceptance and recognition of the national COVID-19 vaccination certificates of Albania, Egypt, Estonia, Greece, Maldives, Malta, Palau and Uruguay for purposes of arrival quarantine protocols as well as for interzonal/intrazonal movement.

Nograles said the IATF so far has approved the national COVID-19 vaccination certificates of 64 countries, territories and jurisdictions.

All foreign nationals traveling to the Philippines for business and tourism may enter the country without visas as long as they are fully vaccinated and present the required COVID-19 proof of inoculation and testing documents.

The IATF likewise directed the Bureau of Quarantine, the Department of Transportation-One-Stop-Shop and the Bureau of Immigration to recognize only the proof of vaccination approved by the IATF.

The Philippines reopened its doors to foreign tourists last Feb. 10, following the drop in COVID-19 infections. The Department of Health case bulletin reported 1,712 new COVID-19 infections on Sunday, bringing the nationwide count to 3,652,203.

21,974 tourist arrivals

The Philippines has welcomed 21,974 inbound foreign tourists over a week since the country reopened its borders to international leisure travel, the Department of Tourism (DOT) reported.

According to latest numbers from the One Health Pass online health declaration system, the arrivals were composed of 10,074 balikbayans, or returning Filipinos who carry foreign passports, while 11,900 are foreign travelers.

Majority of the tourists came from the United States (5,516), followed by Canada (1,366), United Kingdom (918), Australia (891), South Korea (859), Vietnam (572), Japan (459) and Germany (459).

“The recent tourist arrivals reflect foreign tourists’ enthusiasm towards visiting our country, which in turn will accelerate the revival of our tourism industry,” DOT Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said.

“We at the DOT continue to be optimistic that this trend will be sustained and will support not only the tourism industry but also the recovery and growth of our economy,” she added.

Before entering the country, foreign travelers must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and test negative for COVID two days before leaving their countries of origin. They are also required to present the following: proof of complete COVID-19 vaccination; negative RT-PCR test result; passport valid for six months; outbound or return airplane ticket and travel insurance for COVID-19 treatment with minimum coverage of $35,000.

They will no longer have to quarantine, but government asked them to monitor themselves for any COVID-19 symptoms and report to the local government unit hosting their target tourist spots if ever they feel unwell. – Ghio Ong