IATF asked to include US, Canada and Mexico in no-quarantine list

(File photo)

MANILA – Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion has welcomed the lifting of mandatory quarantine from “green” countries, but is hoping that the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Diseases (IATF-EID) will also grant lesser restrictions for travelers from North America that includes the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

During Go Negosyo’s Bakuna Town Hall virtual meeting on Friday, Concepcion said lifting the mandatory quarantine reduces cost for travelers and will help in reviving the tourism sector.

However, it may not be enough to help airlines and tourism enterprises to recover as the Philippines is not a popular destination for many countries in the green list.

"Green list" economies include Algeria, American Samoa, Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cayman Islands, Chad, China, Comoros, Congo, Cook Islands, Eritrea, Falkland Island, Gibraltar, Hong Kong, Kiribati, Madagascar, Mali, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Montserrat, Nauru, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Niue, North Korea, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Poland, Saba, Saint Helena, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Samoa, Sierra Leone, Sint Eustasius, Solomon Islands, Sudan, Syria, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Tokelau, Tonga, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, and Yemen.

“We’ve requested that they include countries in North America, Canada, and some European countries. Because what we see, Thailand and Singapore are starting to open up and redefining these country levels, allowing America. So, I feel that hopefully we hope to move towards that level,” Concepcion said.

Back for Christmas

He added it would be timely for the Christmas season as there are many Filipinos in North America and Europe wanting to go home.

Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez had earlier pushed for shortening the number of days of mandatory quarantine for foreign nationals to encourage more foreign investors to visit and look for business opportunities in the country. (PNA)