Completion of E-arrival card no longer mandatory before boarding - Palace

MANILA, October 27 ------ Passengers bound for the Philippines will no longer be obliged to fill out the electronic arrival card (e-arrival card) before boarding, Malacañang said.

In a statement, the Office of the Press Secretary said that lanes will be set up in ports of entry nationwide for those complying with the government requirement. “Hindi na ito mandatory; lanes will be set up in airports for this system,” Office of the Press Secretary Officer-in-Charge Undersecretary Cheloy Valecaria-Garafil said. The Department of Health (DOH) and Bureau of Quarantine (BOQ) earlier announced that starting Nov. 1, e-arrival cards will be required for inbound passengers 72 hours prior to their departure from their country of origin. The e-arrival card replaced the "One Health Pass" requirement.

But in a press briefing, Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco said that it was approved during the Cabinet meeting that filling out of e-arrival cards would not be made mandatory as a prerequisite for boarding. This means that travelers can fill out the said card at their own convenience, before departure or upon arrival. Frasco added that special lanes will also be set up in the country's gateways for those who have not had the opportunity to fill out the e-Arrival Card. “The overarching direction of the Marcos administration is to allow our country to convey an openness and a readiness to the world to receive tourists and investments so that we would give our fellow Filipinos an opportunity to regain all the livelihood and losses that were incurred during the pandemic,” she said.

Frasco also said that the Marcos administration's lifting of travel restrictions will help reinvigorate the country's tourism industry, which was among the sectors hardest hit by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic over the past 2 years.

Source: news.abs-cbn.com