MANILA, Philippines — Several cities and provinces in the country have waived the COVID-19 swab testing requirement for fully-vaccinated tourists, with some only requiring either vaccination cards and certificates for entry.
The Department of Tourism (DOT) released on Thursday a list of areas which no longer required the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and antigen testing; those that require vaccination certificates acquired through VaxCertPH; and, those that only require a vaccination card from visitors.
As of October 24, DOT said the following areas have agreed to remove both the RT-PCR and antigen testing:
-Cebu Province
-Lapu-Lapu City
-Catbalogan City
Here are the areas which allow entry of fully vaccinated visitors using the vaccination card:
-Clark Freeport Zone (except areas under enhanced community quarantine)
-Subic Bay Freeport Zone
-Tarlac (except areas under ECQ and modified ECQ)
-Masbate Province
-Southern Leyte
-Tacloban City
-Maasin City
-Misamis Oriental
These areas allow entry for tourists using vaccination certificates acquired through VaxCertPH as a proof that a tourist has completed two shots:
-Bohol
-Iloilo City
-Negros Occidental
Meanwhile, Boracay Island, the country’s leading tourist destination, still requires COVID-19 swab tests for fully-vaccinated tourists in other areas, but DOT Secretary Berna Romulo-Puyat Puyat earlier said that such requirement could be scrapped by November in favor of vaccination cards.
For the meantime, fully-vaccinated tourists from these areas nearby Boracay are now allowed to enter the island beach.
-Capiz
-Antique
-Iloilo
-Aklan
-Guimaras
Puyat thanked the local government units for allowing easier entry especially now that the number of tourists are “slowly picking up.”
“We hope that in the months ahead, we will achieve a hundred percent vaccination rate so we can push for a big move for tourism revival,” she said in a statement.