THE Bureau of Immigration on Saturday said Pinoys coming from the 14 countries under the Red list due to Omicron variant may still come home to celebrate the holidays in the Philippines through repatriation flights.
BI spokesperson Dana Sandoval, however, said that the only concern there is that flights coming from countries under the Red list are still suspended.
“So they would have to enter the Philippines through repatriation flights, either government or non-government initiated or mga bayanihan repatriation flights po,” she said.
The Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) earlier placed on the Red list the following countries amid the threat of the Omicron variant:
South Africa
Botswana
Namibia
Zimbabwe
Lesotho
Eswatini
Mozambique
Austria
Czech Republic
Hungary
The Netherlands
Switzerland
Belgium
Italy
“Anyone coming from these 14 travel restricted countries, as well as those with travel history within the last 14 days galing sa mga bansang ito, hindi po muna natin mapapayagang pumasok (from these countries will not be allowed to enter),” Sandoval said.
Sandoval said that there is always the possibility that travelers may opt to move to another country not under the red list then book a flight back to the Philippines.
But she assured the public that the Bureau of Immigration is prepared to conduct 100-percent passport inspection to check the travel history of all arriving passengers within the last 14 days.
