The Immigration Bureau has expressed its support for the proposal to establish green lanes for fully vaccinated individuals coming to the Philippines.
The Tourism Department first floated the idea but clarified that fully vaccinated individuals will still undergo mandatory quarantine. The quarantine will however be shorter than those who have not yet receive their COVID-19 vaccines.
“If approved by the IATF, we in the bureau support this initiative by the DOT as it will not only resuscitate our tourism industry. It will also generate employment for millions of Filipinos who lost their jobs due to the pandemic,” Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente said in a statement.
Morente said that he trusts the IATF to come up with a favorable decision soon.
“Once these ‘green lanes’ are set up, operations in our international airports and seaports hopefully will begin to return to normal,” he said.
Senator Tito Sotto is pushing for the removal of mandatory quarantine for fully vaccinated travellers against COVID-19.
“Calling on IATF/DOH to remove the 14-day quarantine on fully vaccinated persons entering the Philippines as long as health standards are followed,” Sotto said in a message to reporters on Thursday.
Sotto said that imposing a mandatory 14-day quarantine defeats the purpose of encouraging more people to get their anti-COVID-19 shots.
“Why do fully vaccinated people have to still do the two-week quarantine when traveling to the Philippines? It doesn’t make sense! Defeats the purpose of vaccinating so we can open the economy,” Sotto said.
He warns that this could also discourage potential investors in a coronavirus-hit economy.
“Vaccinated investors won’t come because they have to quarantine or even Filipinos who are vaccinated are having second thoughts,” he added.
