THE Bureau of Immigration (BI) said that its officers at the different airports and seaports, are ready to implement possible travel restrictions for passengers flying in from China.
The statement comes after reports of another Covid-19 surge in the Chinese region, prompting countries to consider once again implementing travel bans.
“We take the cue from the DOH, the IATF, and the Office of the President on implementing travel restrictions,” said BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco. “While we have not received any directive yet about it, we are ready at any time to implement any such measures that the government deems appropriate to prevent another surge in the Philippines,” he added.
It can be recalled that at the height of the pandemic, the BI implemented country-specific travel bans to prevent the entry of certain Covid-19 variants.
The BI also reported that only 30,002 Chinese tourists have entered the country for 2022.
“Chinese nationals used to take the second highest spot in the number of arrivals in the country, next to South Koreans,” said Tansingco. “But during the pandemic, due to travel bans both here and in their home country, the number has drastically dropped,” he shared.
The number is only 0.48% of the BI’s total recorded arrivals of more than 6.1 million travelers in 2022.
