By Alec Go
The Philippine government announced Friday (Jan. 28) the temporary suspension of its country classification system listing countries under green, yellow, and red categories.
The new policy, which also eases the restrictions for inbound international passengers, will take place on Feb. 1 based on the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) Resolution No. 159.
“Ito ay base sa rekomendasyon ng Task Force on COVID-19 New Variants and
sub-Technical Working Group on Data Analytics,” Acting presidential spokesperson and Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said in his Jan. 28 briefing.
“Ang pag-suspend natin ng country classifications – red, yellow, green – is [temporary] unless we need to bring it back due to an emerging variant of concern… This is something that we will continue to monitor,” he added.
Also, based on the guidelines, fully vaccinated international arriving passengers are still required to present a negative RT-PCR test result taken 48 hour prior arrival, but will no longer observe mandatory facility-based quarantine.
LOOK: Guidelines on the entry of international arriving Filipino passengers starting Feb. 1, 2022, following the temporary suspension of Green/Yellow/Red listing of countries, jurisdictions. pic.twitter.com/5HtBTJEBdh
— PTVph (@PTVph) January 28, 2022
Arriving passengers are required to present vaccination proof, such as the World Health Organization (WHO) International Certificates of Vaccination and Prophylaxis, VaxCertPH, or national or state digital certificate of the foreign government “which has accepted VaxCertPH under a reciprocal arrangement.”
For unvaccinated or partially vaccinated passengers, they will follow the rule on negative RT-PCR test results taken 48 hours prior departure and the mandatory quarantine in a facility.
Allowing foreigners
Under the same resolution, the government also allowed the entry of fully vaccinated nationals of non-visa-required countries under Executive Order No. 408, series of 1960, beginning on Feb. 10.
Read more: DOT: PH to accept fully vaxxed tourists from visa-free countries starting Feb. 10
Their entry has been allowed provided that they are passport holders valid for at least six months at the time of arrival, and have a return ticket to their next country of destination.
The required vaccination proof for foreign passengers will be similar to those accepted for all arriving international passengers.
Acting Pres. Spox. Nograles: As per IATF Resolution No. 157, beginning Feb. 16, only fully vaccinated foreign nationals will be allowed to enter the Philippines.
— PTVph (@PTVph) January 28, 2022
“Children below eighteen (18) years of age are exempted from the requirement of full vaccination and providing proof of vaccination status prior to boarding,” the guideline read.
Meanwhile, starting Feb. 16, foreign travelers who are not vaccinated against COVID-19 will be barred from entering the country.
