The Office of the President, upon the joint recommendation of the Department of Health and the Department of Foreign Affairs, included the United States of America (US) as among the countries subject to travel restrictions.
In this regard, foreign passengers coming from the US, or who have been to the US within 14 days immediately preceding arrival in the Philippines, shall be prohibited from entering the country effective January 3, 2021, 12:01AM, Manila time, until January 15, 2021.
On the other hand, effective immediately, foreign passengers coming from the US, or who have been to the US within 14 days immediately preceding arrival in the Philippines, arriving before January 3, 2021, 12:01AM, Manila time, shall be allowed to enter the Philippines. However, they shall be required to undergo an absolute facility-based 14-day quarantine period, even if they obtain a negative RT-PCR test result.
Also, effective immediately, Filipino citizens coming from the US, or who have been to the US, within 14 days immediately preceding arrival in the Philippines, including those arriving after January 3, 2021, 12:01AM, Manila time, shall be allowed to enter the Philippines. However, they shall be required to undergo an absolute facility-based 14-day quarantine period, even if they obtain a negative RT-PCR test result.
Further, the Office of the President provided the following rules to Filipino and foreign passengers merely transiting through a country covered by travel restrictions:
A. All passengers, Filipinos or foreigners alike, merely transiting through any of the countries covered by the Memorandum of the Executive Secretary, dated 29 December 2020, and other succeeding memos, shall not be deemed as having come from or having been to that country, provided the passengers stayed in the airport the whole time and they were not cleared for entry by the immigration authorities of the said country covered by our travel restrictions.
B. The abovementioned passengers (in A) who arrive in the Philippines are not required to complete a 14-day facility-based quarantine and may be allowed home quarantine after getting a negative RT-PCR test result at point of entry.
C. Transiting foreign passengers who left the airport or were cleared for entry into the country covered by our travel restrictions shall be prohibited from entering the Philippines.
D. Transiting Filipino citizens who left the airport or were cleared for entry into the country covered by our travel restrictions shall be allowed to enter the Philippines. However, they shall be required to undergo an absolute facility-based 14-day quarantine period, even if they obtain a negative RT-PCR test result.
- From Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque
