Philippines imposes travel ban on Indonesia

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines yesterday imposed a travel ban on passengers from Indonesia, which is grappling with a surge in COVID-19 infections because of the highly transmissible Delta variant.

The restriction covers all travelers coming from Indonesia and those with travel history to the Southeast Asian country within the last 14 days preceding arrival in the Philippines.

The ban will be in place from July 16 to 31.

“This action is undertaken to prevent the further spread and community transmission of COVID-19 variants in the Philippines,” presidential spokesman Harry Roque Jr. said in a statement.

Passengers already in transit from Indonesia and all those who have been to the country within 14 days immediately preceding arrival to the Philippines who will arrive before 12:01 a.m. of July 16 may still be granted entry.

However, they will be required to undergo a full 14-day facility-based quarantine notwithstanding a negative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test result.

Caregivers to Israel

Meanwhile, the government is resuming the deployment of Filipino caregivers to Israel as Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III ordered the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) to lift the suspension on deployment immediately.

“In the interest of the service and based on the recommendation of the Department of Foreign Affairs, you are hereby instructed to lift the temporary suspension,” Bello said in a memorandum.

The temporary suspension on deployment to Israel was imposed amid rising tension between Israeli forces and Palestinian militant groups.

But Bello noted there has been a low level of incidents arising from the conflict recently.

Alice Visperas, Department of Labor and Employment’s International Labor Affairs Bureau director, said about 600 Filipino caregivers have already been processed for deployment to Israel.