The Bureau of Immigration has lifted the 72-hour travel window for departing overseas Filipino workers, balikbayan, and foreign nationals, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said Wednesday.
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Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente said foreign nationals may now leave anytime during the community quarantine period, unless their flights have been canceled by the airlines or the Civil Aeronautics Board.
Morente also said balikbayan and OFWs are allowed to depart as well.
Departing Filipino tourists, however, are still not allowed to depart.
Morente added that previously imposed travel restrictions for arriving passengers still remain in effect.
READ: Air travel ban starts Mar. 20; POGO closed
As of Wednesday, 79 international flights were inbound to all terminals in Manila except Terminal 4, which is dedicated to domestic flights.
“Our travel restrictions for foreign nationals arriving from China, Hong Kong, Macau, North Gyeongsang including Daegu and Cheongdo of South Korea, Iran, and Italy still stands,” Morente said.
Currently, foreign nationals are not allowed to enter the country if they have a history of travel from these countries within the last 14 days. Exempted classes are Filipinos, their spouses and their children, foreigners with Philippine permanent resident visas, and members of the diplomatic corps.
Meanwhile, passengers coming from Iran and Italy are required to present a medical certificate issued within the last 48 hours from arrival, stating that they are COVID-19 free.
READ: Duterte puts entire Luzon on lockdown
The Manila International Airport Authority on Wednesday allowed all airport-accredited taxis to operate to serve passengers going to and from airport terminals amid the land public transport restrictions imposed by the government.
“Airport metered and coupon taxis were allowed to operate. They are now being informed to serve the passengers [with flight schedules]. Though they are being advised to avoid EDSA,” said MIAA chief information officer Connie Bungag.
The MIAA decided to allow airport accredited taxis to operate again after the 72-hour window for international flights was lifted.
Only one person is allowed to bring a passenger to the airport and he or she must depart immediately after dropping off the traveler. The driver should have a copy of the airline ticket of the passenger as proof of conveyance.
Meanwhile, the management of Philippine Airlines appealed to their customers not to proceed to the airport terminals or the PAL Ticket Office for ticketing and transaction needs amid the travel restrictions in the entire Luzon.
“PAL has closed our ticket offices in the Metro Manila area in line with the enhanced community quarantine,” said PAL spokesperson Cielo Villaluna.
She said while the Ticket Office at Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 2 remains open to serve the most urgent transaction needs, visiting the terminal there for other transactions is “highly discouraged in the interest of public health and safety.”
“We are unable to fully accommodate the very high volume of requests related to thousands of cancelled flights over a four-week period, reportedly the largest mass cancellation ever to affect the entire Philippine aviation industry.”
Villaluna said public transportation and other quarantine-related constraints make it challenging to provide full staffing at the airport and Ticket Office.
For other modes of transportation affected by the lockdown, the Office of Vice President Leni Robredo on Wednesday launched a pilot run of its free shuttle service for health workers and front-liners to bring them to their work place.
The shuttles serve major hospitals in various localities in Metro Manila.
To ensure the safety of passengers, thermal scanning and disinfection procedures are being done before they board the shuttle. Social distancingis also being strictly observed inside the vehicle.
Also on Wednesday, a Justice department official warned that drivers, operators of public utility vehicles that will not comply with the public transport ban imposed in line with the enhanced community quarantine in Luzon will face possible criminal charges and the revocation of their franchise.
“Action against the franchise becomes important since operators may force their drivers to continue plying routes. The possible cancellation… of the franchise could deter operators from doing so. The criminal case is distinct from the administrative remedy,” Justice Undersecretary and spokesperson Markk Perete said, in a text message.
Under the enhanced community quarantine, President Duterte prohibited mass transport as part of the government’s more stringent measure to stop the virus from spreading.
Perete said the suspension of public transport is meant to minimize the mobility of people and prevent mass transmission of the disease.
“Those who insist on operating these facilities and disobey orders from law enforcers to desist from further operations may be held to account,” he said.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra earlier said the public should cooperate or face charges for violation of Article 151 of the Revised Penal Code which punishes “resistance and disobedience to a person in authority or the agents of such person ” or violation of Republic Act 113332 or the Mandatory Reporting of Notifiable Diseases and Health Events of Public Health Concern Act.
“That is how the law stands, and the reasoning behind it seems pretty straightforward: in times of a health event of a public concern, an unfounded insistence to act in a way that imperils our collective health can be criminally sanctioned,” Perete said.