Starting May 30

The Philippine government will no longer require a pre-departure coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) test for incoming fully vaccinated passengers starting May 30, 2022, as part of measures to revive the pandemic-hit economy.

Following the recommendations made by the Department of Tourism (DOT) as a means to further ease the travel requirements and encourage more tourists to visit the country, the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) approved Resolution 168 exempting all foreign nationals who are fully vaccinated and those who received booster shots from the RT-PCR test requirement.

Based on the resolution, the visitor must be at least 18 years old and must have received the primary series of COVID-19 vaccines and at least one booster shot.

Also exempted from the pre-departure RT-PCR requirement are foreign nationals aged 12 to 17 who have received their primary COVID-19 vaccine/s; and those aged below 12 and traveling with parents or guardians who are fully vaccinated or have received booster shots.

The same exemption guidelines apply to Filipinos travelling to the Philippines.

“We are glad that the propositions we have worked on have been approved by the IATF-EID and are now up for implementation. As we make it more convenient for tourists to visit the country, the public’s health and safety will remain the DOT’s priority,” Tourism Secretary Berna-Romulo Puyat said.

“The DOT sees this development as a win for the local tourism industry as welcoming more tourists in the country will yield more revenues for our MSMEs and restore more jobs and livelihoods in the sector,” she added.

Meanwhile, travel insurance is no longer required, but still highly encouraged, for arriving passengers. All types of vaccination certificates, regardless of country of origin, will also be accepted.

Based on recent data, a total of 517,516 foreign tourist arrivals have been recorded in the Philippines from February 10 to May 25, 2022.

Bulk of the foreign tourists, totaling 104,589, came from the United States, followed by South Korea with 28,474 and Canada with 24,337.

Australian nationals, British/English and Japanese tourists came next on the list with 23,286, 20,846 and 13,373, respectively.

Other foreign visitors in the Philippines during the early months of the year include Vietnamese, Singaporeans, Malaysians, Italians, Irish and French.

Puyat said the DOT is looking forward to an uptick in tourist arrivals in the coming weeks following the further easing of entry requirements into the country. By CRISTINA LEE-PISCO