Department of Tourism (DOT) Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat inspected on Thursday, Feb. 10, the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 in Pasay City to ensure that health protocols for arriving foreign travelers are strictly observed.
Puyat's inspection coincides with the first day of the country’s tourism sector reopening to fully vaccinated foreign tourists coming from the countries with visa-free arrangement with the Philippines.
“As we welcome our fully-vaccinated visitors to our country, we need to be assured that proper health and safety protocols are strictly enforced in our airports in order to provide a hassle-free entry for travelers," said Puyat.
Those inspected include the Bureau of Quarantine (BoQ) and Bureau of Immigration (BI) counters at the international arrival area, as well as the luggage claim area, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) and DOT counters.
From a data generated by the DOT-National Capital Region (DOT-NCR) coming from the One Health Pass (OHP) System, a total 398 out of the 11,492 expected arrivals at NAIA Terminals 1 to 3 are classified as tourists as of 2 p.m. Thursday. The foreign nationals come from the US and Thailand.
Other countries with more than 10 arriving tourists at NAIA include Malaysia, Canada, Japan, United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, and Australia.
On the other hand, a total of 180 non-OFW travelers are expected to arrive at the Clark International Airport (CRK) also Thursday, aboard flights from five different airlines: Emirates; JeJu Air; Jetstar; Qatar Airways; and Scoot.
Puyat expressed optimistic that the number of inbound tourist arrivals will help the tourism sector, and provide an overall impact in the economic boost for the country during this pandemic period.
“We at the DOT are glad that we are gradually reopening our borders to foreign visitors. But this enthusiasm is tempered by the constant reminder that the virus is still very much a threat and that we must always be vigilant so as not to negate the efforts we have made over the past two years to contain the virus,” said Puyat as the country open the tourism for the first time in nearly two years or since the lockdown of borders due to COVID-19.
As per the guidelines of the IATF-EID Resolution 160-B and amendments approved by the task force in Resolution 160-D, foreign tourists coming from various visa-free countries must be able to present documents upon their arrival in the Philippines.
These include an acceptable proof of vaccination, a negative result of an RT-PCR test taken within 48 hours before the date and time of departure from the country of origin or first port of embarkation in a continuous travel to the Philippines, excluding layovers for their return journey.
Valid tickets for their return journey to the port of origin or next port of destination not later than thirty (30) days from date of arrival in the Philippines, except for Filipino citizens and former Filipino citizens with balikbayan privilege (under R.A. No. 9174) and their foreign spouses and/or children.
Passports valid for a period of at least six months at the time of their arrival to the Philippines and travel insurance for COVID-19 treatment costs from reputed insurers, with a minimum coverage of USD 35,000 for the duration of their stay in the Philippines.
Foreign nationals who wish to go to the Philippines may access the complete guidelines under IATF-EID Resolutions 160-B and 160-D using the following links:
https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/downloads/2022/02feb/20220203-RESO-160B-RRD.pdf
https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/downloads/2022/02feb/20220210-RESO-160D-RRD.pdf