The Department of Health (DOH) announced that the One Health Pass (OHP) has been changed to a new electronic arrival (eArrival) card after several complaints from travelers were received.
This was the decision of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID), said DOH Officer-in-Charge Maria Rosario Vergeire.
Vergeire said that the OHP is requesting too much data from travelers. Also, travelers are not allowed to board the plane if they do not upload their OHP.
The Health official said that the eArrival card is way more convenient for travelers.
“Kakaunting datos nalang ang nakalagay diyan. Wala na pong masyadong hinihingi na requirements. Pangalawa, kung hindi mo ma upload yan, meron tayong special lane sa ating mga airports kung saan pagdating mo, ia-assist ka nila, doon ka magu-upload, at doon mo makukuha ang eArrival card mo (Only a little data is needed and we won’t be asking several requirements. Second, if you cannot upload it, there are special lanes in the airports for those arriving. They will be assisted in uploading and they can get their eArrival card),” said Vergeire.
Vergeire said that the objective of the OHP is also the same with the eArrival card.
“Hindi po nawala ang objective ng One Health Pass with this transition to the eArrival card. Kung ano mang datos ang kailangan natin prior to this na nasa One Health Pass, kinukuha pa rin natin (The objective of the One Health Pass remains with this transition to the eArrival card. We will still get)— two major details: the travel details and the profile of the individual which includes the vaccination status,” she said.
Recently, the DOH asked the Bureau of Quarantine (BOQ) to review the details concerning the OHP.
Senator Nancy Binay also called for the lifting of the OHP amid “mounting complaints from travelers over the inconvenience of the screening system.”
Binay asked the agencies concerned to "look into simplifying the processes that visitors have to undergo as the tourism industry looks to recover from the pandemic." She added that several "overseas Filipino workers have been complaining that the process of verifying the OHP has led to long lines in the country's airports."