Philippines lifts suspension of non-essential travel by Filipinos

The Philippines has lifted its restrictions on non-essential outbound travel by Filipinos, including tourism, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Malacañang announced on Tuesday.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said the government’s COVID-19 task force made the decision on Monday.

Roque initially said that travel for tourism was still prohibited only to clarify later that such activity will be allowed subject to conditions.

The task force also set conditions on the non-essential outbound travel of Filipinos.

These include the submission of confirmed roundtrip tickets for those traveling on tourist visas and adequate travel and health insurance to cover rebooking and accommodation expenses if stranded, and hospitalization in case of infection.

The country of destination should also have no entry ban for Filipinos and the traveler must execute a declaration acknowledging the risks in traveling and follow the COVID-19 guidelines for returning Filipinos such as the mandatory RT-PCR testing and quarantine.

Roque said the new policy will be effective 15 days after its publication in the Official Gazette. —KBK/MDM, GMA News