The Philippine Bureau of Immigration (BI) has announced that it backs the proposed Green Lane that will facilitate the entry of vaccinated foreign travelers into the Philippines.
The Green Lane, meant for foreign visitors who have completed their Covid-19 vaccination regimen, was originally proposed by the Department of Tourism as one of the measures to help the country reopen the economy. “The Green Lane will pave the way for the reopening of our tourist destinations to leisure travelers who are now fully vaccinated. It will give the jobs back to many of our tourism workers and gradually revive the tourism industry under safe conditions,” said DOT Secretary Bernadette Romulo Puyat.
BI Commissioner Jaime Morente said in a statement that the bureau supports this proposal, as it will “not only resuscitate our tourism industry, it will also generate employment for millions of Filipinos who lost their jobs due to the pandemic,” adding that he will defer to the IATF.
“Once these ‘green lanes’ are set up, operations in our international airports and seaports hopefully will begin to return to normal,” Morente said.
The proposal was formed by a small working group made up of representatives from various government agencies, including the BI, the Bureau of Quarantine, the Department of Information and Communications Technology, Department of Transportation, Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, and Department of Trade and Industry, and was headed by the DOT and the Department of Foreign Affairs.
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