Thousands of international travelers arrived in the country on Thursday, the first day of the reopening of Philippine borders for foreign nationals after nearly two years.

"Yesterday we recorded more than 8,000 arrivals and the implementation of our health protocols continue. We make sure that the immigration areas are clear and we assure the implementation of the strict social distancing in the area, " Bureau of Immigration spokesperson Dana Krizia Sandoval said during the ''Laging Handa'' public briefing on Friday.

Dana said around 30 percent of the arrivals were foreigners.

"The foreigners were around 27-30 percent of the total arrivals yesterday. That is the actual (number) we expect for the next few weeks, our arrival will be in the same figures," she said.

Sandoval said more international travelers are expected to arrive in the coming weeks.

"We expect that the number of arriving passengers will increase, maybe for the next coming weeks it will increase to around 20 percent to 30 percent and hopefully we will be reaching the 10,000 to 12,000 by the end of the month," she said.

Dana said there were four foreigners who were not allowed to enter the country.

"We have recorded four foreign nationals that were not allowed to enter. Most of them do not have proper documentation because their vaccination cards were being checked by the Bureau of Quarantine (BOQ)," she said.

"It’s the BOQ that confirms if it is legitimate or if it is readable or if it is within the guidelines set by the IATF. Once the BOQ sees that it is not inline with the guideline set by the IATF or if there is falsification in their vaccination cards, they turn it over to the Bureau of Immigration who implements the exclusion of the foreign national," he added. Robina Asido/DMS