OFWs exempted from expanded travel ban —DOLE

Returning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) will be allowed to enter the country despite the travel ban imposed by the government to travelers from countries where the new coronavirus variant was reported, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said Tuesday.

In a virtual press briefing, Bello said this was the decision of President Rodrigo Duterte when the travel ban was recommended to him.

“Our president said, ‘Our OFWs should be allowed to return’,” Bello said.

Nonetheless, the Cabinet official said returning OFWs will be subjected to a 14-day quarantine even if they tested negative for COVID-19.

Bello said there are about 60,000 to 100,000 OFWs expected to return to the country.

The Philippine government expanded the travel ban to 20 countries in relation to the threat of a new coronavirus variant initially found in the United Kingdom. 

All passengers originating from the following countries will not be allowed to enter the Philippines:

• United Kingdom
• Switzerland
• Denmark
• Hong Kong
• Singapore
• Ireland
• Japan
• Germany
• Australia
• Iceland
• South Africa
• Italy
• Israel
• Spain
• Netherlands
• Lebanon
• Canada
• Sweden
• France
• South Korea

The flights from these countries will be suspended from December 30, 2020 to January 15, 2021.

Passengers who are already in transit or who had been in any of the flagged countries within 14 days from entry into the Philippines and who arrive before December 30, 2020, will be allowed entry but they shall be subjected to strict quarantine and testing protocols such as the mandatory 14-day quarantine despite getting a negative RT-PCR result.  —KBK, GMA News