Travel ban on 10 countries extended

MANILA, Philippines — President Duterte has extended until the end of the month the travel ban for inbound travelers from 10 countries as part of border control measures against the more contagious Delta variant of COVID-19.

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque Jr. said yesterday that the President approved the recommendation of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) to extend the travel ban earlier set to end tomorrow.

The travel restriction covers India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Exempted from the ban are Filipinos who are availing themselves of the government’s repatriation program or special commercial flights.

Roque said the President also approved the request of airlines to resume international transit hub operations but only for countries in the “Green List” – countries classified as “low-risk” for COVID-19.

“These international transit hub operations shall be limited to airside transfers between Terminals 1 and 2 and within Terminal 3 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, and further limited for countries/jurisdictions/territories in the Green List,” he said.

Included in the Green List as of Aug. 12 are Albania, American Samoa, Anguilla, Australia, Benin, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brunei, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cayman Islands, Chad, China, Comoros, Cote d’ Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Falkland Islands, Gabon, Grenada, Hong Kong (Special Administrative Region of China), Hungary, Mali, Federated States of Micronesia, Montserrat (British Overseas Territory), New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niger, Nigeria, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Poland, Romania, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Slovakia, Sudan and Taiwan.

“As such, protocols for the controlled movement of passengers and health and safety protocols within the terminals shall be strictly observed,” Roque said.

Any traveler who may exhibit symptoms shall comply with isolation and quarantine protocols which shall be for the account of the sponsoring airlines, he said.

The IATF has directed the Department of Foreign Affairs, Bureau of Quarantine and Bureau of Immigration to formulate the necessary protocols for the issuance of appropriate visas applicable on a case-to-case basis, Roque said.