Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque clarified on Friday night that only Filipino repatriates or those coming home for good can fly back to the Philippines.
“Kailangan repatriation flights lang. All repatriation programs lang muna ang allowed,” Roque said in a text message.
The repatriation effort may be initiated by the Philippine government or by non-government organizations.
This means that entry of all passengers who want to come home for vacation will still not be allowed within the imposed travel ban period.
The government last Monday had extended its travel ban on passengers from the United Arab Emirates, Oman, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Nepal from June 1-15.
Earlier, there had been confusion among OFWs if those who individually booked their tickets will be allowed entry to the Philippines even if they are not part of any government or non-government repatriation effort.
In a resolution issued by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) on Friday, it said that all repatriates need to present a negative RT-PCR test result before flight. They will also undergo a 14-day mandatory quarantine upon arrival.
The airline companies or the shipping lines are responsible for checking the compliance of the repatriates.
The passengers must submit their test results to the Bureau of Quarantine upon their arrival at the port of entry in the Philippines.
