The country is currently limiting the entry of foreign nationals to spouses of Filipino citizens, diplomatic and permanent visa holders, and occasionally, those who have humanitarian reasons.
Secretary Roque assured that he will raise the matter in their next meeting.
“Well, ang spouses naman po ay pwedeng pumasok. Ang pag-uusapan po siguro iyong mga fiancé visa holders. Kasi sinasabi po ng mga fiancé at totoo naman na bagama’t hindi pa sila nakakasal eh dapat naman hindi pinaghihiwalay ang nagmamahalan. Iyan naman po ay pinag-aaralan. At sabi ko nga po sa inyo noong huling press briefing, ako na po ang mag-i-sponsor niyan doon sa susunod na IATF meeting. (Well, spouses are allowed to enter. Maybe the discussion will be on fiancé visa holders. Fiancés have been saying and it’s true that they may not be married yet, but lovers must not be separated. That is being considered. And as I said in the last press briefing, I will sponsor that in the next IATF meeting).”
Meanwhile, Secretary Nograles ensured that they will approve requests if it is for a good reason.
“Na-bring (up) na po ‘yan sa IATF at na-delegate na namin sa isang TWG. (It has been brought up in the IATF and we have delegated it to a TWG.) And we’re just waiting [for the] recommendations ng (of the) Technical Working Group. But like I said, ‘yung iba naman, on a case-to-case basis, ‘pag for humanitarian reasons, napagbibigyan naman namin (But like I said, we can allow others, on a case-to-case basis, if it’s for humanitarian reasons.)” – Report from Mela Lesmoras
