The Bureau of Immigration has announced its enforcement of the temporary travel restrictions on passengers coming from nine countries on “Red List” starting September 12 as the country grapples with a surge in COVID-19 infections.

 

In a statement, the bureau said the travel ban covers those coming from Azerbaijan, Guadeloupe, Guam, Israel, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Saint Lucia, and Switzerland within the last 14 days before arrival to the Philippines. 

 

This was in compliance with the recent directive from Malacañang and as recommended by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) that placed the ban amid rising COVID-19 cases.

 

The travel ban took effect at 12:00 AM of September 12 and will last until 11:59 PM of September 18, 2021.

 

Passengers who are already in transit from the nine countries and will arrive before the enforcement of the ban may be allowed to enter the Philippines but will be subjected to existing policies of the Bureau of Quarantine (BOQ), Morente added.

 

BI Port Operations Division Chief Carlos Capulong also said that those who had a mere layover in the nine countries are not covered by the travel ban.

 

Capulong also said that the ban however does not include Filipinos arriving from the said countries under government or non-government repatriation programs or bayanihan flights.

 

While they may be allowed entry, arriving Filipinos will undergo a strict 14-day facility based quarantine, and be required a Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) test to be monitored by the BOQ.

 

The BI also said the IATF released countries on “Green List,” but Capulong stressed that foreign nationals coming from these countries do not automatically qualify for entry to the Philippines as general travel restrictions are still in place.