Around 27% to 30% of the more than 8,000 arrivals on the first day of opening the country’s borders are foreign nationals, according to an official of the Bureau of Immigration (BI).
Dana Sandoval, spokesperson of BI, said they are ensuring that there is no congestion in immigration areas through social distancing measures as they expect more foreign arrivals in the coming weeks.
“Siguro for the next coming weeks tataas po iyan ng mga 20% to 30% and hopefully po we will be reaching na sa 10,000 to 12,000 by the end of the month,” she said in the February 11 Laging Handa briefing.
The Philippines began accepting fully vaccinated foreign nationals for business and tourism purposes on February 10. They are required to show valid proofs of vaccination and negative RT-PCR test results taken within 48 hours prior to departure.
Sandoval said four foreign nationals were not allowed entry due to improper documentation, such as vaccination cards.
“Sa foreign nationals po, definitely 100% hindi po puwedeng pumasok muna ang mga unvaccinated sa ngayon following the guidelines po from the IATF [Inter-Agency Task Force],” she said.
“Reminder po natin na siguraduhin po nila na kumpleto po ang kanilang mga documentation and kasama po sila doon sa mga kategorya na maaari pong makapasok ng bansa following the guidelines from the IATF,” she added. -ag
