Bureau of Immigration (BI) Commissioner Jaime Morente said on Monday, DEc. 13, that the implementation of the travel ban on passengers coming from 16 counties has been going smoothly so far.
On Sunday, Dec. 12, the Philippines added Portugal in the Red List countries, banning the entry passengers coming there.
“So far the implementation has been going smoothly, we have not excluded anyone coming from the Red List countries for the past week,” the chief declared.
A travel ban for passengers coming from South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique, Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, Italy, France, and Portugal is in effect until Wednesday (Dec.15)
Those who have travelled there 14 days prior to arrival to the Philippines, will not also allowed entry and will be boarded on the next available flight back to the country of origin.
However, Filipinos arriving via bayanihan flights are allowed, subject to a 14-day facility-based quarantine.
“We are still waiting for the directive from the health authorities if there is a need to extend the travel ban, " Morente said.