Highlights
- List of green list countries below.
- No quarantine required for vaccinated travellers with negative RT-PCR test result taken 72 hours before travel.
- Quarantine rules for unvaccinated Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs), non-OFWs and non-Filipino travellers updated.
Manila: Fully-vaccinated overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), as well as non-OFWs no longer have to undergo quarantine — if they present a negative RT-PCR test result within 72 hours prior to departure from the country of origin, it was clarified late Monday (October 25, 2021).
This was explained by the Philippines’ labour Secretary Silvestre Bello III in a virtual forum. The Philippines has updated the entry requirements for countries/territories on the green and yellow lists:
Summary
From 'green list' countries:
> Fully vaccinated foreign nationals arriving from green-list countries must:
- Have proof of a negative PCR test taken within 72 hours of departure; quarantine not mandatory.
- Self-monitor for COVID-19 symptoms for 14 days.
> Foreign nationals who are not fully vaccinated or whose vaccination status cannot be validated arriving from green-list countries must:
- Undergo a facility-based quarantine until they receive a negative PCR test taken on the 7th day of quarantine.
- Quarantine at home until their 14th day of arrival if they are released from the facility based quarantine.
- Have a quarantine-hotel reservation for at least six days.
Yellow-list entry requirements:
> Fully vaccinated foreign nationals arriving from yellow-list countries must:
- Undergo a facility-based quarantine until they receive a negative PCR test taken on the fifth day of quarantine.
- Quarantine at home until their 10th day of arrival if they are released from the facility based quarantine.
- Have a quarantine-hotel reservation for at least six days.
> Foreign nationals who are not fully vaccinated or whose vaccination status cannot be validated arriving from yellow-list countries must:
- Undergo a facility-based quarantine until they receive a negative PCR test taken on the seventh day of quarantine.
- Undergo a facility-based quarantine until they receive a negative PCR test taken on the seventh day of quarantine. Quarantine at home until their fourteenth day of arrival if they are released from the facility based quarantine.
- Have a quarantine-hotel reservation for at least eight days.
- Additional Information: Foreign national minors who are not fully vaccinated must carry out the aforementioned quarantine requirements; a parent/guardian must join the child in the quarantine facility for the full duration of the quarantine.
Secretary Bello also said if no pre-departure test is done, fully-vaccinated overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), as well as non-OFWs from “green states” must present proof of their shots; they then have the option to undergo a facility-based quarantine until the release of their negative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test result taken in the quarantine facility upon arrival in the country.
Bello is currently in the UAE, where he met Filipino expats in the UAE at a town hall meeting in Dubai on Monday night.
The labour minister clarified that the recommendation to include a country, state or territory on Manila's “green list" comes from health experts. Bello explained that the recommendation of the medical sector is given weight on the decision of authorities for the inclusion of countries to the list, where quarantine protocols for Filipinos who came from these nations are relaxed.
“Of course, heavy consideration will be given to the opinion or recommendation of the health sectors, our medical experts. That's what we follow...because they are the ones who know which to qualify for,” he told the Philippine News Agency (PNA).
Updated testing/quarantine rules
He was referring to the updated testing and quarantine rules issued by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) on October 15, 2021 in which fully-vaccinated OFWs or non-OFWs from green states can either take a pre-departure PCR test and avoid quarantine upon arrival, or undergo quarantine at a facility-until the release of their negative RT-PCR test result in the country upon arrival.
Those who don’t undergo quaratine, are also advised to self-monitor for any symptoms until their 14th day following arrival in the country.
'Green list'
From October 16 to 31, those included in the country’s green list are:
- Algeria
- American Samoa
- Bhutan
- Burkina Faso
- Cameroon
- Cayman Islands
- Chad
- China (Mainland)
- Comoros
- Republic of the Congo
- Cook Islands
- Eritrea
- Falkland Islands (Malvinas)
- Gibraltar
- Hong Kong (Special Administrative Region of China)
- Kiribati
- Madagascar
- Mali
- Marshall Islands
- Federated States of Micronesia
- Montserrat
- Nauru
- New Zealand
- Nicaragua
- Niger
- Niue
- North Korea
- Northern Mariana Islands
- Palau
- Poland
- Saba (Special Municipality of the Kingdom of the Netherlands)
- Saint Helena
- Saint Pierre and Miquelon
- Samoa
- Sierra Leone
- Sint Eustatius
- Solomon Islands
- Sudan
- Syria
- Taiwan
- Tajikistan
- Tanzania
- Tokelau
- Tonga
- Turkmenistan
- Tuvalu
- Uzbekistan
- Vanuatu
- Yemen
Labour Attache Manuel Dimaano of the Philippine Overseas Labour Office (POLO)-Abu Dhabi, UAE reported that the host country has vaccinated more than 90% of its population.
“The situation here in the UAE is very peaceful. The response of the UAE government is good when it comes to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Most of the residents here and UAE citizens are vaccinated, I think 90%, and those who have been vaccinated have also started booster shots,” he added.
Eight (8) of the 14 days shall be observed at an accredited hotel or facility; the remaining 6 to be completed at home under the monitoring of concerned Local Government Units.
RT-PCR: Travelers shall also undergo an RT-PCR test on the 7th day of their quarantine stay.
Travellers must stay at an accredited hotel while waiting for test schedule and the release of results. Hotel check only allowed upon the release of negative RT-PCR test taken on the seventh (7th) day.
Day 1 starts on date of arrival.
For an updated list of “Green” or “Yellow” countries, check https://bit.ly/PALTravelsToPH-Vaccinated
Bello and other labour officials are in UAE, the host country for the Ministerial Meeting of labour ministers from other nations in the region to be held from October 25 to 27. Among the agenda of the gathering is to discuss the welfare and safety of all migrant workers.
More expats may still be able to avail themselves of the grant, with fresh funds eyed for this pandemic programme. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered that an additional Php3 billion ($59 million; Dh217 million) be allocated to the scholarship programme, Bello told the forum.
