BALIKBAYANS (returning Filipinos) will be allowed to come home for the holidays starting December 7.
In a letter to the Tourism Congress of the Philippines dated Nov. 26, 2020, Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo Puyat said the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) has issued Resolution No. 85 giving entry privileges to the following in line with Republic Act No. 6768 (Act Instituting the Balikbayan Program):
• Filipino citizens’ foreign spouses and children, regardless of age, who are traveling with them; and
• Former Filipino citizens, including their spouses and children, regardless of age, who are traveling with them.
However, the IATF-EID now requires returning Filipinos to take their Covid-19 test upon arrival at the airport.
Asked for clarification, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Brigido D. Dulay, chair of the IATF-EID technical working group, told the BusinessMirror, “Airport has three testing providers — PAL (Philippine Airlines), PAGS (Philippine Airport Ground Support Solution Inc.), and Red Cross. But in the US, most of them are balikbayans, and the Covid count there is high. So they need to be tested immediately upon arrival.”
But he stressed, “Protocols can be tweaked anytime to adjust to the situation.”
He added test upon arrival is the current protocol for all arriving passengers “as per OSS-DOTr (One Stop Shop-Department of Transportation). But balikbayans can pre-pay the tests. DOTr is coming out with the circular.”
Previously, many returning Filipinos, except overseas Filipino workers, pre-book their RT-PCR tests through the hotels where they will be quarantined. Part of the hotel package includes pickup by the hotel from Naia upon arrival, room and breakfast, and transport service to and from the hospital where the Covid-19 test will be taken. The medical facility then sends the test results to the guest via the hotel. Usually, the guest receives their test result within eight hours.
Returning OFWs, on the other hand, are supposed to take their RT-PCR test at the airport, go to their assigned quarantine hotel, and wait for their test results. In the past, the OFWs complained that they had to wait for test results as long as five days.
As per the IATF-EID resolution, entry of balikbayans and their dependents will be “allowed visa-free entry under Executive Order No. 408, s. 1960; with pre-booked quarantine facility; with pre-booked COVID-19 testing at a laboratory operating at the airport; and subject to the maximum capacity of inbound passengers at the port and date of entry.”
The Bureau of Immigration is expected to formulate the necessary guidelines “to ensure smooth implementation. The Department of Tourism is directed to issue the necessary guidelines for the provision of sufficient accommodation for the foregoing persons taking into account the release of Covid-19 rest results.
In a separate news statement, Romulo Puyat said that allowing entry of balikbayans or former Filipino citizens into the country during the holidays is a great cause for celebration for millions of families who long for the homecoming of their relatives abroad.
“This not only bodes well for our ailing industry but is good tidings for our kababayans who have been clamoring to be reunited with their loved ones from abroad, especially this yuletide season,” she said.
“Balikbayans are considered as a viable source market of the country for tourism, particularly extending to the second and third generation dependents who have yet to discover their parents’ roots. The Filipino diaspora to date, has reached about 10 million. That is why we deem important the Filipino communities abroad as staunch partners in driving visitors to the Philippines,” she added.
Image credits: Nonie Reyes