Foreign seafarers allowed to enter PH for ‘crew change’

MANILA – The national government has allowed foreign seafarers to enter the Philippines to board ships, Malacañang announced Tuesday.

In a Palace press briefing, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said this is stipulated under Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) Resolution No. 107, which amends IATF Resolution No. 105.

Roque said foreign seafarers will be allowed to enter the country under the “green lanes” program for crew change provided that they hold a 9 (c) crew list visa at the time of entry.

“Pinapayagan pumasok ang mga foreign seafarers sa ilalim ng green lanes program for crew change. Eto po yung mga sasakay lang ng barko. Kinakailangan lang meron silang hawak na 9 (c) crew list visa sa oras ng pagpasok sa bansa (Foreign seafarers will now be allowed to enter the Philippines under the Green Lanes program for crew change. These are the ones who will board ships. All they need to do is present their 9 (c) crew list visa at the time of entry),” he said.

Previously, foreign seafarers had to enter the country through seaports only.

“Sa naunang resolusyon ay kailangan ng foreign seafares na dumating sa ating mga puwerto o seaports. Tinanggal na po ang ‘arriving through seaports’ na phrase (In the first resolution, foreign seafarers needed to arrive at our seaports. The phrase arriving through seaports was removed),” Roque added.

On March 18, the IATF-EID allowed Filipinos residing and working overseas to return to the Philippines.

“All Filipino citizens, whether returning overseas Filipino or overseas Filipino worker (OFW), shall be allowed to return to the Philippines,” IATF-EID Resolution No. 103 read.

The latest directive came after a memorandum circular temporarily barred non-OFWs from entering the country due to the upward trend in Covid-19 cases nationwide.

Currently, the travel ban will be imposed on most foreign travelers from March 22 to April 21.

Exempted from the travel restrictions are diplomats and members of international organizations, foreigners involved in medical repatriation, foreign seafarers under the “green lanes” program, foreign spouses and children of Filipino citizens traveling with them, and other emergency humanitarian cases approved by the National Task Force against Covid-19.

The resolution, however, clarifies that Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente has the “exclusive prerogative to decide on waiver or recall of exclusion orders for all foreign nationals authorized entry under relevant IATF resolutions, subject to regular reporting to the IATF Secretariat at the end of each calendar month.”

“The entry of all of the foregoing shall still be subject to such daily limit of incoming passengers as may be imposed by the Department of Transportation,” the resolution read.

As of Monday, the country has recorded 731,894 confirmed Covid-19 cases of which 13,186 are deaths and 603,213 are recoveries.