Acting presidential spokesperson and Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles (Screengrab from RTVM)
MANILA – The Philippines will allow the entry of fully vaccinated foreigners starting February 16, Malacañang said Friday.
In a Palace briefing, acting presidential spokesperson and Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said the new guidelines, which were approved by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID), would require foreigners to present proof of full vaccination against the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) and to undergo additional protocols.
“Beginning Feb. 16, 2022, proof of full vaccination shall be made a requirement for entry of all foreign nationals allowed to enter the Philippines,” he said.
Nograles, however, noted that the following groups are exempted from the requirement:
-children below 18 years old
-people medically unable to receive the vaccine, as certified by a competent public health authority in the country or port of origin
-foreign diplomats and their qualified dependents or 9(e) visa holders
He said the Department of Transportation (DOTr), through the Civil Aeronautics Board, has been directed to mandate the airlines to require foreigners traveling to the Philippines to present proof of full vaccination prior to boarding flights to any points in the Philippines.
Meanwhile, Nograles said the national Covid-19 vaccination certificates of Colombia, Iraq Monaco, Italy, Tunisia, and Vietnam shall be accepted for purposes of arrival quarantine protocols, as well as for interzonal or intrazonal movement, in addition to other countries or territories whose proofs of vaccination the IATF has approved for recognition in the Philippines.
The Bureau of Quarantine, the DOTr-One-Stop-Shop, and the Bureau of Immigration are directed to recognize only the proofs of vaccination approved by the IATF. (PNA)
