The Bureau of Immigration (BI) advised Filipinos intending to go abroad to fully comply with the requirements that the government has prescribed to be allowed to leave the country.
These requirements include the presentation of a confirmed return ticket for those traveling on tourist visas; adequate travel and health insurance to cover rebooking; and accommodation expenses if stranded and hospitalization if infected.
Bureau of Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente stressed that no one is exempted from complying with the conditions imposed on all outbound Filipinos unless they are permanent residents, overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), and holders of study visa in their country of destination.
“We will be very strict in seeing to it that these requirements are fully complied with, otherwise we will not allow them to leave,” Morente said.
According to BI port operations chief Grifton Medina, BI personnel at international ports were already instructed to strictly implement the resolution of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) on the requirements for outbound Filipino travelers.
Medina said it is also important for travelers to first ascertain if the country of his destination has not imposed restrictions on the entry of Filipinos in order to avoid being sent back to Manila.
“They are also required to sign, by their airlines, a declaration acknowledging the risks involved in their travel. They will be informed that upon their return, they will be swab tested for COVID-19 and undergo hotel quarantine,” Medina added.
He further stressed that even passengers who comply with the requirements will still be subjected to rigid inspection to make sure that they are not victims of human trafficking and illegal recruitment.