Boracay Island, one of the top beach getaways in the Philippines, but as Senator Nancy Binay sees it, it is not yet time for foreign tourists to visit the Philippines, even if they are fully vaccinated. —MARIANNE BERMUDEZ/INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — For Senator Nancy Binay, this is not the right time for the Philippines to entertain foreign tourists even if they are fully vaccinated.
Currently, the government is now studying the possibility of allowing foreign travelers to enter following the Department of Tourism’s proposal to establish a “green lane” for leisure travelers who have already had full doses of the anti-COVID-19 vaccine.
PH prepares to welcome fully vaccinated foreign travelers
Despite that, the proposal didn’t go over well with Binay.
“Mas maraming dapat pag-usapan at gawan ng guidelines kaysa pagkaabalahan ang pagpapapasok ng vaccinated foreign tourists dito sa atin,” she said in a statement on Wednesday.
(We must prioritize many more guidelines and things than allowing foreign tourists who have been vaccinated to enter the country.)
“How can we entertain leisure travel kung marami pa rin tayong cases, at di pa rin naa-address ang mga issue pagdating sa public health tulad ng testing, lack of vaccines, poor contact-tracing systems, low inoculation rate, vaccine hesitancy, etc.”
(How can we entertain leisure travel if we still have many cases and have not addressed the issues regarding public health like testing, lack of vaccines, poor contact-tracing systems, low inoculation rate, vaccine hesitancy, etc.)
“I understand the need to kickstart the tourism industry–kailangan nating gumulong muli ang turismo–pero di pa ito ang tamang panahon para mag-entertain ng foreign tourists,” she stressed.
(I understand the need to kickstart the tourism industry—we need to revive our tourism, but this is not the right time to entertain foreign tourists)
Vaccinated people may still harbor the deadly coronavirus, Binay warned.
“Let’s be realistic. Unang-una, napakalayo ng Pilipinas pagdating sa sistema at sa mga safety nets in place kung ikukumpara sa Hong Kong at Thailand. These countries are so much advanced in terms of rate of vaccination, testing and technology-driven contact-tracing,” she said.
The Philippines can only open its doors once the system is working fully, the senator said.
“We still have a laundry list of pandemic-related problems na kailangang unahing bigyan ng solusyon. At the moment, baka we need to focus first on seriously growing the domestic market, and shift to low risk, locally sustainable niche markets,” Binay said.
The senator, meanwhile, agreed with the proposal to open a “greenlane” for overseas Filipinos as long as they are “fully vaccinated, verified, and cleared by health authorities from their countries of origin.”
She also backed the proposed reduction of the quarantine period for returning overseas Filipinos, who have been fully vaccinated, from the previous 10 days to seven days.
READ: DOT wants 7-day quarantine for fully vaccinated returning Filipinos