Chinese tourists stranded at NAIA after gov't implements travel ban amid nCoV threat

A day after the Philippine government implemented the order of President Rodrigo Duterte imposing a travel ban to and from China and its special administrative regions, Chinese tourists were left stranded at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).

On Monday, two flights previously scheduled to leave NAIA for Guangzhou and Xiamen were canceled, according to a report by Corinne Catibayan on GMA News' Unang Balita.

Also canceled on Monday was a flight from Guangzhou to Singapore.

The passengers booked on the said flights, most of them Chinese, were frustrated at not being able to board their planes.

"We're all Chinese and we want to go home back to China. But due to the flights canceled, we have no flights to go home," one female passenger told GMA News.

"I mean, because of the virus stuff, it's good to have the bolt, the gate, to keep the Chinese to get in. I totally understand, okay. But to keep the bolt to keep Chinese from going out, it's no good," she added.

Another female passenger appealed to the Philippine government to allow even just a few flights to leave for China so they could go home.

"If the government can give us some flights, even just a few so we can take Chinese back, and that we won't allow Philippine go, that's fine, no worries," she said.

Senator Bong Go on Sunday announced that Duterte decided to implement a temporary travel ban on all travelers coming from mainland China and its special administrative regions Hong Kong and Macau amid the threat of the novel coronavirus.

Filipinos and Philippine residents who will come from China will have to undergo a 14-day quarantine period upon arriving in the Philippines.

On Sunday, the Manila International Airport Authority, Civil Aeronautics Board, the Bureau of Immigration and airlines began preventing foreigners coming from China and its special administrative regions from disembarking at NAIA.

Also barred from disembarking were foreigners who took a connecting flight from China within 14 days before arrival in the Philippines.

Filipinos who came from China, Macau, and Hong Kong meanwhile were to be examined by an epidemiology expert and will be placed under quarantine.

Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific and Air Asia announced on Sunday they were canceling their flights between the Philippines and China this month following the government order.

The flight cancellations will be until February 29 for both PAL and Cebu Pacific, and until March 1 for Air Asia.

On Monday, there were fewer passengers at the departure area of NAIA Terminal 1.

Most of the passengers, both Filipinos and foreigners, and including NAIA employees wore face masks.

Meanwhile, Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific are continuing their contact tracing procedures to identify passengers who may have had close contact with two Chinese passengers who tested positive for nCoV.

One of the two passengers died on Saturday in Manila, becoming the first fatality due to nCoV outside China. —KG, GMA News