Adviser seeks home testing for travelers

MANILA, Philippines — Presidential adviser for entrepreneurship and Go Negosyo founder Joey Concepcion is proposing home testing for fully vaccinated passengers arriving from North America as well as not requiring them anymore to stay in quarantine facilities.

In a statement, Concepcion said yesterday the time spent in quarantine facilities is the reason most travelers from North America are not pushing through with their plans to travel to the Philippines for the holidays.

He said passengers from the US and Canada should get tested 48 hours before departure and again when they arrive in the Philippines, either at home if they live within Metro Manila or at a quarantine hotel.

The proposal will require confirmed test schedules by the passengers.

“This already is such a substantial reduction from being tested only after the required five days spent at the quarantine hotel; they only have to spend one day at the hotel if they can’t do the testing at home,” Concepcion said.

The US and Canada are not part of the Philippines’ green list of countries, which means even fully vaccinated passengers from these two points are required to undergo COVID-19 test after spending five days at a quarantine facility.

For the unvaccinated or partially vaccinated, they need to get tested after seven days in quarantine.

“A lot of our kababayans have been putting off their plans to go home and reunite with families this Christmas. We want to help them save money, so we are proposing an easier approach, which is to test before departure and home quarantine upon arrival. They can just take the required RT-PCR tests at home,” Concepcion said.

Apart from allowing passengers from the US and Canada to save on costs, easing testing and quarantine restrictions is seen to help spur economic activity.

“We can do this to give peace of mind to our returning Filipinos and their loved ones and the families they will go home to. As the Christmas spending starts, a lot of the country’s businesses will reap the benefits,” he said.

He said he is also working with flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) to address the possible increase in testing demand.

Earlier, Concepcion organized a meeting with the Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of Transportation, the Philippine Ambassador to the US, experts from the OCTA Research group, as well as representatives and officials from local airlines including PAL where proposals were put forward to address the challenges faced by passengers coming from North America.

Proposed solutions include frontloading the testing process before passengers arrive in the country and expanding international gateways.

Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez earlier said 90 percent of US-based Filipinos have been vaccinated and many are eager to travel to the Philippines but have concerns regarding quarantine protocols.