The Philippines said Saturday it was adopting a new Red-Yellow-Green system that will limit international arrivals, as it lifted the blanket travel ban on 10 countries starting Sept. 6.
The current ban covers Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. When it expires, the new system will be used to determine who could enter the Philippines.
Also on Sept. 6, the government said it would soft-launch the online vaccine registry VaxCertPH for international departures, prioritizing first those who live in Metro Manila or Baguio City.
Countries will be classified based on their COVID incidence rate, or cumulate cases over 28 days per 100,000 population, case counts or cumulative cases over the past 28 days and testing, according to the Inter-Agency Task Force on COVID-19.
This is based on their respective incidence rates and case counts as primary criteria, and testing data as secondary criteria. The incidence rate is the cumulative new cases over the past 28 days per 100,000 population while case counts are cumulative new cases over the past 28 days.
Here's what you need to know about the new travel restrictions, according to Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, who is also the mouthpiece of the IATF:
Red List -- High Risk
- For populations greater than 100,000 the incidence rate shall be more than 500
- For populations less than 100,000, the COVID-19 case counts shall be more than 500
- Testing rate of tests over the past 28 days per 100,000 population.
- Inbound international travelers, regardless of their vaccination status, coming from or who have been to “Red List” countries/jurisdictions/territories shall not be allowed to enter the Philippines.
- Only Filipinos returning to the country via government-initiated repatriation, non-government-initiated repatriation, and Bayanihan flights may be allowed entry, subject to entry, testing and quarantine protocols.
- They will undergo 14-day quarantine upon arrival. They have to complete the first 10 days in a quarantine facility while the remaining four days must be spent under home quarantine in their respective local government units of destination.
- They will undergo RT-PCR testing on the seventh day, with their day of arrival serving as Day 1. Notwithstanding a negative test result, they have to complete their facility quarantine for 10 days.
- The Bureau of Quarantine will ensure strict symptom monitoring while in the facility quarantine for 10 days.
- All passengers, whether Filipinos or foreigners, merely transiting through a “Red List” country/jurisdiction/ territory shall not be deemed as having come from or having been to said country/jurisdiction/territory if they stayed in the airport the whole time and were not cleared for entry by its immigration authorities.
- Upon arrival in the Philippines, passengers merely transiting though a “Red List” country/jurisdiction/territory shall be covered with existing testing and quarantine protocols.
Yellow List -- Moderate Risk
- For populations greater than 100,000, the incidence rate shall be 50 to 500
- For populations less than 100,000, the COVID-19 case counts shall be 50 to 500
- Testing rate of tests over the past 28 days per 100,000 population.
- Inbound international travelers, regardless of their vaccination status, coming from or with travel history within the last 14 days prior to their arrival in the Philippines from “Yellow List” countries/jurisdictions/territories will be governed by entry, testing and quarantine protocols.
- They will undergo 14-day quarantine upon arrival. They have to complete the first 10 days in a quarantine facility while the remaining 4 days must be spent under home quarantine in their respective local government units of destination.
- They will undergo RT-PCR testing on the seventh day, with their day of arrival serving as Day 1. Notwithstanding a negative test result, they have to complete their facility quarantine for 10 days.
- The Bureau of Quarantine will ensure strict symptom monitoring while in the facility quarantine for 10 days.
Green List
- The Green List system was in place before the Red and Yellow tiers. Arrivals from green list countries and jruisdictions can avail of seven days quarantine instead of 10.
Here are the Green List jurisdictions as of Sept. 4, 2021:
- American Samoa
- Anguilla
- Australia
- Benin
- Burkina Faso
- Cameroon
- Cayman Islands
- Chad
- China
- Comoros
- Republic of the Congo
- Djibouti
- Equatorial Guinea
- Falkland Islands (Malvinas)
- Gabon
- Grenada
- Hong Kong
- Hungary
- Mali
- Federated States of Micronesia
- Montserrat
- New Caledonia
- New Zealand
- Niger
- Northern Mariana Islands
- Palau
- Poland
- Saba
- Saint Pierre and Miquelon
- Sierra Leone
- Sint Eustatius
- Slovakia
- Taiwan
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