Filipino-Americans asking for US inclusion in Phl ‘green list’

Our consulates in the United States have been getting a deluge of inquiries and appeals from Filipino-Americans on how soon they can go home to the Philippines without going through facility-based quarantine. They are appealing that if they are fully vaccinated and have a negative RT-PCR test taken 72 hours before arrival, they be allowed entry without quarantine.

Under current Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases protocols, fully vaccinated travelers from “green” countries do not need to undergo a facility-based quarantine if they have a negative PCR test taken within 72 hours before departing from the country of origin and will just be instructed to self-monitor for symptoms.

The United States is currently under the IATF’s list of “yellow” countries, and fully vaccinated travelers have to undergo a facility-based quarantine until the release of a negative result for the RT-PCR test which will be taken on the fifth day. This means visiting Filipino-Americans have to book at least six days of quarantine (or more if the RT-PCR test results take several days) at an accredited hotel – which is not only costly but also takes away precious time that could be spent with their loved ones and family, given that most also have limited vacation time. Even Americans with businesses in the Philippines have been wanting to go back but they can’t afford the one-week downtime due to the quarantine requirement.

The IATF’s color classification is primarily based on the number of COVID-19 cases. Being a large country, the US case load is considered high. However, the number of cases per day in the US has been declining in recent weeks by about 22 percent.

Approximately 90 percent of Filipino-Americans have been fully vaccinated. They are hopeful the US could be included in the list of “green” countries. The clamor is growing, especially since Christmas is fast approaching, and so many have not been able to visit their loved ones since the COVID-19 pandemic broke.

During our virtual meeting last Thursday with Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teddy Locsin, USec Dodo Dulay, Transportation Secretary Art Tugade as well as Fr. Nick Austriaco and Prof. Ranjit Rye of OCTA Research plus representatives from local airlines that include flag carrier PAL, we discussed how the difficulties faced by international travelers, particularly those from the US and Canada, could be addressed.

One good news is that there is already new technology from a Boston-based company that can conduct PCR tests on all passengers before they board their flight with the results ready by the time the plane lands in Manila – which will provide authorities information if any passenger tested positive. As Secretary Locsin pointed out, frontloading the PCR testing process can help prevent the long queues that can happen with arriving passengers lining up and waiting for the PCR test to be done at the airport.

According to Fr. Austriaco, data indicate that new infections in the Philippines cannot be attributed to arriving passengers as homegrown or local transmissions account for almost all of the new COVID-19 cases in the Philippines. The infection rate in fact is on a downtrend, especially in Metro Manila which has been placed under Alert Level 3 with more establishments and businesses allowed to open on a limited capacity – and we all know that this is largely due to the government’s vaccination rollout that continues to be scaled up.

There is no doubt we have to open our country and our economy for travel not only for the tourism sector but the downstream industries as well so we can start moving again. Many countries like Singapore and Australia are already open to vaccinated travelers and are scrapping quarantine requirements for fully vaccinated travelers from the US.

The “bright light” at the end of the tunnel is fast approaching with worldwide scientists optimistically predicting the pandemic will soon be under control by early next year. With the development of oral antiviral drugs that show great promise in treating patients like molnupiravir from Merck which is being heralded as a potential “game changer,” patients will no longer need hospitalization because medication can be taken at home. Pfizer is also developing an oral drug to combat COVID-19, and the results have also been promising.

Experts, however, are emphatic that vaccination is still the best protection against COVID-19. Studies by the US National Institutes of Health on vaccine mix-and-match showed the level of antibodies increasing in people who switched vaccine brands for their booster shots, with no notable side effects. With the possibility of COVID-19 becoming endemic and thus will require booster shots to be given yearly like the seasonal flu, the mix-and-match option could help solve vaccine supply issues and keep COVID-19 manageable.

Almost two years now since the pandemic started and with millions dying or getting infected with the disease, we can only thank first and foremost God for giving us the terrific scientists who developed the vaccines to protect us from this deadly disease. Needless to say, I and countless Filipinos cannot thank all the countries enough, especially the United States, for their generosity in giving us the much-needed vaccines for our people. To me, being in the forefront of seeing closely and working with the US government in getting the vaccines into our country and saving people’s lives is the greatest blessing ever in my entire life.

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