The Bureau of Immigration has barred 36 Chinese travelers from entry to Manila due to the existing travel ban to and from China, Hong Kong and Macau to prevent the spread of the 2019 novel coronavirus.
The BI said that the foreigners, who flew in via a Philippine Airlines flight from Phnom Penh, Cambodia, were denied entry at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1 as immigration officers found out they had come from Macau.
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“They were denied entry after our officers discovered upon inspection that they were traveling as a group and that they have been to Macau last Feb. 1,” Bureau of Immigrations (BI) port operations division chief Grifton Medina said in a statement.
The Chinese passengers were booked on the first flight back to Phnom Penh.
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Immigration Bureau Chief Jaime Morente asked airlines to “do their share in implementing the travel ban and prevent the entry of foreigners from the areas of concern.”
Immigration officials are mulling the possibility of imposing fines against errant airlines, he said.
The BI will now require both foreign and Filipino passengers abroad to completely fill out and submit their arrival cards.
“We have developed a series of checking, double-checking, even triple checking to ensure that we assist our health authorities in monitoring the travelers. We do what we can to help prevent the spread of this virus,” Morente said.
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