Overseas Filipinos who have taken jabs of the COVID-19 vaccine are not exempted in the Philippines’ new heightened quarantine measures if they plan to head back home.
Malacañang recently increased the number of mandatory quarantine days at government-owned facilities or hotels to 10 days starting May 8.
“Ano ba ho ang bagong protocol ngayon sa kahit sino na papasok sa Pilipinas? Mandatory na po ang 14 days quarantine,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in an announcement aired over state-run PTV-4.
This developed after the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) approved Thursday the new quarantine and health protocols for all inbound travelers, regardless of their vaccination status.
RELATED STORY: PH Embassy in UAE: OFWs, travelers subject to mandatory 14-day quarantine from May 8
Under the IATF-EID Resolution 114, all arriving travelers are required to stay in a quarantine facility for 10 days, as per reports from the Philippine News Agency
After 10 days, inbound travelers must observe home quarantine for four days.
“Kinakailangan na magkaroon po ng ugnayan sa lokal na pamahalaan para masigurado po iyong home quarantine sa natitirang apat na araw (There should be a coordination with the local government to ensure that they observe home quarantine in the last four days),” Roque said.
Travelers are also mandated to undertake reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing on their seventh day in the country, according to the resolution.
READ ON: Bello seeks additional funding for quarantine, testing expenses of returning OFWs
“Notwithstanding a negative test result, the arriving traveler shall complete the facility-based quarantine period of 10 days,” the resolution said.
The IATF-EID directed the Bureau of Quarantine (BOQ) to ensure “strict” symptom monitoring while inbound travelers are in the facility quarantine for 10 days.
To operationalize the new rules, the Department of Health (DOH), the BOQ, the Department of Transportation (DOTr), the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Department of Labor and Employment, and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) are tasked to issue advisories for “widest” dissemination regarding current testing and quarantine protocols.
