In a public address today, July 7, Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque announced the lifting of the ban on non-essential outbound travel for Filipinos. According to the Inter-Agency Task Force’s (IATF) Resolution 52, Filipinos may travel abroad as long as they complete requirements to be presented to the Bureau of Immigration.
However, Roque added that tourism is still not allowed.
For those traveling abroad, the IATF requires that the traveler must have adequate travel health insurance to cover rebooking and accommodation expenses, confirmed round trip tickets for those traveling on tourist visas and a signed declaration acknowledging the risks involved in traveling. The country of destination must also allow entry for Filipinos in accordance with their travel, health and quarantine restrictions.
The returning traveler must also follow all the guidelines for returning Filipinos including polymerase chain reaction testing and quarantine.
Roque said the new policy will be effective 15 days after its publication in the Official Gazette.
As of writing, there have been 46,333 cases in the Philippines, with 1,303 deaths and 12,185 recoveries.
Header photo courtesy of Ken Yam on Unsplash
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