The Bureau of Immigration announced that it will be allowing the entry of qualified travelers from red list countries

In an advisory, BI Commissioner Jaime Morente said that following the updated guideline from the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF), the travel ban from passengers coming from red list countries has been lifted.

“This would mean that our kababayan who are in red list countries may now fly back to the Philippines via commercial flights without the need to join repatriation or bayanihan flights,” said Morente.

All arriving passengers are required to present a negative RT-PCR test taken within 48 hours prior to departure from country of origin, and are also subject to the testing and quarantine protocols as set by the IATF and implemented by the Bureau of Quarantine.

He added that RT-PCR tests taken 72 hours prior to departure, which was part of the previous protocol, shall be considered until 12:01 am of January 19.

The IATF announced the updated red list countries which include: Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Canada, Curacao, French Guiana, Iceland, Malta, Mayotte, Mozambique, Puerto Rico, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Spain, and US Virgin Islands.

Meanwhile, included under the Green List are the following: Bangladesh, Benin, Bhutan, British Virgin Islands, China (Mainland), Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Falkland Islands (Malvinas), The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Hong Kong (Chinese Special Administrative Region), India, Indonesia, Japan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Montserrat, Morocco, Niger, Oman, Pakistan, Paraguay, Saba (Special Municipality of the Kingdom of the Netherlands), Saint Barthelemy, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sint Eustatius, Taiwan, Timor-Leste (East Timor), and Uganda.

All other countries not mentioned are under the yellow list.

Morente clarified that despite the lifting of the travel ban from red list countries, the general travel restrictions are still in place.

“Currently, only Filipinos, balikbayan, and those with long term visas are allowed to enter the country,” said Morente. “Those holding tourist visas are still not permitted to enter,” he added.

The BI earlier said that it has been experiencing a surge in the number of immigration officers affected by the virus. “Thankfully most of the cases are either mild or asymptomatic,” said Morente. “We are hoping this surge passes soon, so that our services remain unhampered,” he added. BI News