PH reopens borders to foreign tourists after nearly 2 years

MANILA – The Philippines is welcoming some 398 foreign tourists on the first day of its reopening to fully vaccinated international leisure travelers, the Department of Tourism (DOT) said Thursday, marking the end to the country’s nearly two-year closure due to pandemic restrictions.

A large chunk of this number will come from the United States and Thailand, with 109 and 93 passengers, respectively. 

Other countries with more than 10 arriving tourists also include Malaysia, Canada, Japan, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia and Australia.

“Masaya kami, lahat ng stakeholders, na nagbukas na tayo today (We are happy, all stakeholders, that we have opened today). The bulk coming from the US, pangalawa (second is) Thailand, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia. So talagang naghintay sila ng February 10 para lang makarating na rito (They waited for February 10 to come here),” Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said in a Laging Handa briefing.

The Department of Tourism (DOT) said counters had been set up at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) to cater to the arriving travelers. Additional personnel were also deployed to assist.

In the afternoon, Romulo-Puyat personally welcomed the passengers at NAIA Terminal 3.

One of them was British national Keith Saunders, who arrived from Thailand.

Elated to be able to finally visit the country, Saunders said he’s planning to make his first stop at the thriving coastal town of Subic, one of the nearest beach destinations from Metro Manila.

“I’ve been in Thailand for three months waiting for the Philippines to open up and we are here now. It’s been a long journey of 18 months away from my girlfriend,” he said in an interview. “Everybody had been trapped for two years, you know.”

No further information has been shared yet regarding the destinations of the first batch of tourists in the Philippines, but Romulo-Puyat said it might include some of the staples such as Boracay, Palawan, Batangas, Bohol and Baguio City.

Meanwhile, she reiterated that minimum health and safety standards would remain in place even with the removal of quarantine protocols for the vaccinated foreigners.

“[N]gayon marami na sa ating mga tourist destinations ay 100 percent vaccinated na and ongoing na iyong tourism program, so hindi lang iyong health and safety protocols, we make sure na iyong ating mga tourism workers na mga nasa tourist destinations ay bakunado at magkaka-booster shot (Many of our tourist destinations have 100 percent vaccination coverage and our tourism program is ongoing, so it’s not only the health and safety protocols, we make sure that our tourism workers are inoculated and boosted),” she said.

Proof of vaccination

Travelers from visa-free countries are now allowed to enter the Philippines but they must present proof of vaccination, negative RT-PCR test results taken within 48 hours prior to departure, and outbound tickets to their country of origin or next country of destination.

As of this posting, the Philippines recognizes the national Covid-19 vaccination certificates issued by 39 visa-free countries, including Brazil, Israel, South Korea, and Timor Leste.

“Visa-free entry of foreign nationals to the Philippines starts today, February 10, 2022. All arriving foreign nationals are reminded to carry/present ‘proof of vaccination,'” Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Brigido Dulay said Thursday.

“If their country is not listed below, they should have a  VaxCertPH or WHO ICV (World Health Organization International Certificate of Vaccination)/yellow card – or risk deportation,” he added.

Based on the latest government guidelines, tourists are also no longer required to undergo facility-based but must still self-monitor for any Covid-19 symptom for seven days with the first date being the date of arrival.

Travelers will be required to report to the local government unit of destination upon the manifestation of symptoms.