IATF-EID Resolution No. 160-B, s. 2022

February 3, 2022

IATF-EID RESOLUTION NO. 160-B, S. 2022

WHEREAS, Section 2 (c) of Executive Order No. 168 (s.2014) mandates the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) to prevent and/or minimize the local spread of emerging infectious diseases (EID) in the country through the establishment or reinforcement of a system in screening possible patients infected with EID, contact tracing, identification of the mode of the exposure to the virus, and implementation of effective quarantine and proper isolation procedures;

WHEREAS, on 10 September 2021, the President issued Proclamation No. 1218 (s. 2021) further extending the period of the State of Calamity throughout the Philippines until 12 September 2022, unless earlier lifted or extended as circumstances may warrant;

WHEREAS, the Department of Health (DOH), the University of the Philippines-Philippine Genome Center (UP-PGC), and the University of the Philippines-National Institutes of Health (UP-NIH) biosurveillance have detected B.1.1.7 (Alpha), B.1.351 (Beta), P.1 (Gamma), B.1.617 (Delta), and B.1.1.529 (Omicron) variants of SARS CoV-2 in the Philippines;

WHEREAS, in order to minimize the cross-border transmission of SARS CoV-2, there is a need to adopt border control and quarantine measures for all passengers entering the Philippine territory by sea or by air.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, as it is hereby resolved, that, in view of the temporary suspension of the classification of countries, territories and/or jurisdictions into "Green," "Yellow," and "Red," the following shall be the new entry, testing and quarantine protocols for foreign nationals arriving from abroad, effective 0001H of 10 February 2022:

A. Foreign Nationals Entering the Philippines Visa-Free

1. Foreign nationals traveling to the Philippines for business and tourism purposes may enter the Philippines without visas, provided they:

a. Qualify as former Filipino citizens with Balikbayan privilege under Republic Act No. 9174, including their spouse and/or children who are not balikbayans in their own right and are traveling with them to the Philippines; provided they are not restricted nationals; OR

b. Are a citizen/national of the following countries entitled to a stay not exceeding thirty (30) days (Executive Order 408, S. 1960, as amended):

 

1. Andorra	43. Equatorial Guinea	86. Mali
2. Angola	44. Eritrea	87. Malta
3. Antigua and Barbuda	45. Estonia	88. Marshall Islands
4. Argentina	46. Ethiopia	89. Mauritania
5. Australia	47. Fiji	90. Mauritius
6. Austria	48. Finland	91. Mexico
7. Bahamas	49. France	92. Micronesia
8. Bahrain	50. Gabon	93. Monaco
9. Barbados	51. Gambia	94. Mongolia
10. Belgium	52. Germany	95. Morocco
11. Belize	53. Ghana	96. Mozambique
12. Benin	54. Greece	97. Myanmar
13. Bhutan	55. Grenada	98. Namibia
14. Bolivia	56. Guatemala	99. Nepal
15. Botswana	57. Guinea	100. Netherlands
16. Brazil	58. Guinea Bissau	101. New Zealand
17. Brunei Darussalam	59. Guyana	102. Nicaragua
18. Bulgaria	60. Haiti	103. Niger
19. Burkina Faso	61. Honduras	104. Norway
20. Burundi	62. Hungary	105. Oman
21. Cambodia	63. Iceland	106. Palau
22. Cameroon	64. Indonesia	107. Panama
23. Canada	65. Ireland	108. Papua New Guinea
24. Cape Verde	66. Israel	109. Paraguay
25. Central African Republic	67. Italy	110. Peru
26. Chad	68. Jamaica	111. Poland
27. Chile	69. Japan	112. Portugal
28. Colombia	70. Kazakhstan	113. Qatar
29. Comoros	71. Kenya	114. Republic of Korea
30. Congo	72. Kiribati	115. Romania
31. Costa Rica	73. Kuwait	116. Russia
32. Cote d'Ivoire	74. Kyrgyzstan	117. Rwanda
33. Croatia	75. Lao PDR	118. Saint Kitts and Nevis
34. Cyprus	76. Latvia	119. Saint Lucia
35. Czech Republic	77. Lesotho	120. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
36. Democratic Republic of the Congo	78. Liberia	121. Samoa
37. Denmark	79. Liechtenstein	122. San Marino
38. Djibouti	80. Lithuania	123. Sao Tome and Principe
39. Dominica	81. Luxembourg	124. Saudi Arabia
40. Dominican Republic	82. Madagascar	125. Senegal
41. Ecuador	83. Malawi	126. Seychelles
42. El Salvador	84. Malaysia	127. Singapore
	85. Maldives

 

128. Slovak Republic	139. Togo	149. USA
129. Slovenia	140. Trinidad and Tobago	150. Uruguay
130. Solomon Islands	141. Tunisia	151. Uzbekistan
131. South Africa	142. Turkey	152. Vanuatu
132. Spain	143. Turkmenistan	153. Vatican
133. Suriname	144. Tuvalu	154. Venezuela
134. Swaziland	145. Uganda	155. Vietnam
135. Sweden	146. UAE	156. Zambia
136. Switzerland	147. UK and Northern Ireland	157. Zimbabwe
137. Tajikistan	148. United Republic of Tanzania
138. Thailand

 

c. Are fully vaccinated, as defined in Section A (2) below, except only for minor children below twelve (12) years of age traveling with their fully-vaccinated foreign parents;

d. Carry/possess an acceptable proof of vaccination, as set out in Section A (3) below;

e. Present a negative RT-PCR test taken within forty-eight (48) hours prior to the date and time of departure from the country of origin/first port of embarkation in a continuous travel to the Philippines, excluding lay-overs; provided, that, he/she has not left the airport premises or has not been admitted into another country during such lay-over;

f. Have valid tickets for their return journey to the port of origin or next port of destination not later than thirty (30) days from date of arrival in the Philippines;

g. Have passports valid for a period of at least six (6) months at the time of their arrival to the Philippines; AND

h. Obtain, prior to arrival, a travel insurance for COVID-19 treatment costs from reputed insurers, with a minimum coverage of USD35,000.00 for the duration of their stay in the Philippines.

2. A foreign national shall be deemed fully vaccinated only if he/she is fully compliant with the following requisites:

a. Received the second (2nd) dose in a 2-dose series or a single dose vaccine more than fourteen (14) days prior to the date and time of departure from the country of origin/port of embarkation.

b. The vaccine is included in any of the following:

i. Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) List or Compassionate Special Permit (CSP) issued by the Philippine Food and Drug Administration; OR

ii. Emergency Use Listing of the World Health Organization.

3. The following shall be the only acceptable proofs of vaccination, which shall be presented prior to departing/boarding from the country of origin/port of embarkation and upon arrival in the country:

a. World Health Organization International Certificate of Vaccination and Prophylaxis; OR

b. VaxCertPH; OR

c. National or state digital certificate of the country/foreign government which has accepted VaxCertPH under a reciprocal arrangement; OR

d. Other proofs of vaccination permitted by the IATF.

4. Visa-free foreign nationals who fail to fully comply with the conditions and requisites set forth in Section A (1) to (3) above shall be denied admission into the country and shall be subject to the appropriate exclusion proceedings.

5. Once admitted into the country, they are no longer required to observe facility-based quarantine but shall self-monitor for any sign or symptom for seven (7) days with the first day being the date of arrival. However, they are required to report to the local government unit (LGU) of their destination should they manifest any symptoms.

B. Foreign Children Traveling with Filipino Nationals

1. A foreign child or children below twelve (12) years of age who are not vaccinated for any reason whatsoever and traveling with their Filipino parent, shall follow the entry, testing, and quarantine protocols of their Filipino parent traveling with them.

2. A foreign child or children from ages twelve (12) to seventeen (17) years of age traveling with their Filipino parent, shall follow the protocol based on their vaccination status (i.e., vaccinated or unvaccinated). In case of such unvaccinated minor children, either foreign or Filipino parents should accompany such child or children during their facility-based quarantine.

C. Foreign Nationals Entering Through 9(a) Visa

1. Foreign nationals not covered or qualified under Section A (1) (a) or Section A (1) (b) above, or foreign nationals from visa-required countries or restricted foreign nationals, may enter the Philippines through an entry exemption document (EED) issued under existing IATF rules and regulations, provided:

a. They are fully vaccinated, as defined in Section A (2) above, except only for minor children below twelve (12) years of age traveling with their fully-vaccinated parents;

b. They carry/possess an acceptable proof of vaccination, as set out in Section A (3) above; AND

c. They present a negative RT-PCR test taken within forty-eight (48) hours prior to the date and time of departure from the country of origin/first port of embarkation in a continuous travel to the Philippines, excluding lay-overs; provided, that, he/she has not left the airport premises or has not been admitted into another country during such lay-over.

2. Once admitted into the country, they are no longer required to observe facility-based quarantine but shall self-monitor for any sign or symptom for seven (7) days with the first day being the date of arrival. However, they are required to report to the local government unit (LGU) of their destination should they manifest any symptoms.

3. Foreign nationals who are found not compliant with the condition set forth in Section A (3) above shall be required to undergo facility-based quarantine until the release of their negative RT-PCR test taken on the fifth (5th) day. After which, they shall be required to undergo home quarantine until their fourteenth (14th) day, with the date of arrival being their first day.

The local government units of destination and their respective Barangay Health Emergency Response Teams are tasked to monitor those arriving passengers undergoing home quarantine.

D. Foreign Nationals with Other Types of Visas

1. Foreign nationals with valid and existing visas other than 9(a) visas may be allowed entry into the Philippines provided they are fully vaccinated as defined in Section A (2) and are able to present proofs of vaccination as set out in Section A (3), and shall no longer required to observe facility-based quarantine but shall self-monitor for any sign or symptom for seven (7) days with the first day being the date of arrival. However, they are required to report to the local government unit (LGU) of their destination should they manifest any symptoms.

2. Foreign nationals covered by this Section D who shall not be fully vaccinated as defined in Section A (2) above shall be denied admission into the country and shall be subject to the appropriate exclusion proceedings.

3. Foreign nationals covered by this Section D who fail to fully comply with the conditions and requisites set forth in Section A (3) above shall be required to undergo facility-based quarantine until the release of their negative RT-PCR test taken on the fifth (5th) day. After which, they shall be required to undergo home quarantine until their fourteenth (14th) day, with the date of arrival being their first day.

E. Fully vaccinated foreign nationals shall not be included in the arrival quota set by the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and its One-Stop-Shop (OSS).

RESOLVED FURTHER, that this Resolution shall supersede the relevant entry, testing, and quarantine protocols for foreign nationals under IATF Resolution No. 159 dated 27 January 2022. Other previous IATF resolutions inconsistent herewith are deemed modified accordingly.

RESOLVED FINALLY, that the Chairperson and the Co-Chairperson shall be duly authorized to sign this Resolution for and on behalf of the Inter-Agency Task Force.

APPROVED during the 160th Inter-Agency Task Force Meeting, as reflected in the minutes of the meeting, held this February 03, 2022, via video conference.

(SGD.) KARLO ALEXEI B. NOGRALESSecretary, Office of the Cabinet SecretariatIATF Co-Chairperson

ATTACHMENT

Certification

This is to certify that:

1. I am presently an Undersecretary of the Department of Health;

2. I am the Head of the Secretariat of the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases created under Executive Order No. 168, (s.2014) and chaired by the Department of Health (DOH);

3. The IATF Secretariat holds office in the DOH Main Office, San Lazaro Compound, Tayuman, Sta. Cruz, Manila;

4. I am the custodian of the records of the IATF, including the Minutes of Meetings and Resolutions;

1. n  In the Regular Meeting of the IATF held on 03 February 2022 via teleconference during which a quorum was present and acted throughout, IATF Resolution No. 160-B was unanimously approved and adopted;

5. The foregoing resolution has been signed by Secretary Francisco T. Duque III and/or Secretary Karlo Alexei B. Nograles upon the authority of the IATF Members;

6. I am executing this Certification for whatever legitimate purpose this may serve.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto affixed my signature this 3rd day of February 2022, Manila.

(SGD.) ATTY. CHARADE B. MERCADO-GRANDEUndersecretary of Health

n Note from the Publisher: Copied verbatim from the official document. Irregular Numerical Sequence.