The government's pandemic task force has approved the proposal to accept and recognize the Covid-19 vaccine certificates of Bulgaria, Iran, and Panama as sufficient proof of vaccination for several purposes, including entry to the country.
Communications Secretary Martin Andanar announced this as the country further eases Covid-19 restrictions as the number of daily infections continues to dwindle.
In a statement, Andanar said that the Inter-agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases is now recognizing or accepting as proof of vaccination the national/state COVID-19 vaccination certificates of the said three countries.
He added that the vaccination certificates of Bulgaria, Iran, and Panama shall be accepted and recognized as proofs of vaccination required for purposes of arrival quarantine protocols as well as for interzonal/intrazonal movement.
"This is in addition to other countries/territories/jurisdictions whose proofs of vaccination the IATF has already approved for recognition in the Philippines," he said.
The acting Palace spokesman added that the recent decision is also without prejudice to such other proofs of vaccination approved by the IATF for all inbound travelers.
Meanwhile, the Bureau of Quarantine, the Department of Transportation - One-Stop-Shop, and the Bureau of Immigration are directed to recognize only the proofs of vaccination thus approved by the IATF.
So far, the country is recognizing the vaccination certificates as sufficient proof of vaccination of 72 countries/territories/jurisdictions:
- Albania
- Argentina
- Armenia
- Australia
- Austria
- Azerbaijan
- Bahrain
- Belgium
- Brazil
- British Virgin Islands
- Brunei Darussalam
- Bulgaria
- Cambodia
- Canada
- Chile
- Colombia
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Ecuador
- Egypt
- Estonia
- France
- Georgia
- Germany
- Greece
- Hong Kong
- India
- Indonesia
- Iran
- Iraq
- Ireland
- Israel
- Italy
- Japan
- Kazakhstan
- Kuwait
- Macau
- Malaysia
- Maldives
- Malta
- Monaco
- Myanmar
- New Zealand
- Nepal
- Oman
- Palau
- Panama
- Papua New Guinea
- Peru
- Portugal
- Qatar
- Romania
- Samoa
- Singapore
- Slovenia
- South Korea
- Spain
- Sri Lanka
- Switzerland
- Syria
- Thailand
- The Netherlands
- Timor-Leste
- Tunisia
- Turkey
- United Arab Emirates
- United Kingdom
- United States of America
- Uruguay
- Vietnam
The Philippines reopened its doors to fully vaccinated foreign tourists from non-visa countries on February 10, 2022.