Has been waiting since early 2020

[Centrals]

for the visit. Hopefully 2022.

At least ONE great news for the country at the moment:

https://uk.yahoo.com/sports/news/ol...ippines-ending-97-year-drought-202410805.html

I knew Filipina is tough.

Well done.

 

[EdC]

Centrals, supposed to be in Philippines end of November, can I plan that that trip will be again postponed? None of the news looks good, have you heard any estimates?

 

[Centrals]

Foreign Domestic Helpers - Home

Fully vaccinated can come to HK but still required 3wks of quarantine in a destinated hotel.

I have no idea on entering Philippines but the situation is still BAD. Only 12% of them are vaccinated and daily cases is still over 15,000.
You really have to decide if it is a good idea to travel to Philippines at the end of Nov 2021. Please check the latest entry requirement to the country but even that may not be applicable in Nov. Remember what happened Mar 2020 when the President closed the country without any warning and a lot of tourists were stranded for quite a while.

Good luck.

 

[Barmaglot]

Remember what happened Mar 2020 when the President closed the country without any warning and a lot of tourists were stranded for quite a while.

It wasn't 'without any warning' - there was a warning about a week in advance; I was there at the time. Yes, there was chaos at NAIA, but I flew out on March 14th, and the airport closed on March 20-something.

 

[Centrals]

Inside One of the World's Longest COVID-19 Lockdowns

NAIA was closed on 20th Mar but Manila was already off limited from 15th Mar.

I had read plenty were stranded in PG because both private/public ferry were prohibited. They were eventually "evacuated" by a special arrangement, believing through Asia Divers, and left.

 

[Centrals]

Centrals, supposed to be in Philippines end of November, can I plan that that trip will be again postponed? None of the news looks good, have you heard any estimates?

No idea what is really happening in the country.

Philippines COVID: 2,040,568 Cases and 33,873 Deaths - Worldometer
Does not look very promising at the moment.

ADVISORY: Visa Requirements For Foreign Nationals Allowed To Enter The Philippines While Under Community Quarantine | Philippine Embassy – Tokyo, Japan

This was issued in Japan but should apply to any previous visa exempted nationals.

End of Nov is probably too optimistic as the infection is still rising at the moment.
Good luck.

 

[xrcjdx]

this place is in no way going to open this year. for most of the past 18 months you could not travel from one province - and sometimes one town/city - to another without being required to quarantine. often in a facility. and by facility i mean covered basketball court. it is as bad now as it ever has been. if you are married to a filipino/filipina, have minor children here, or a holder of an srrv you can enter. with a visa. then hotel quarantine for ten days, followed by 4 days quarantine in your destination lgu. the reality is many local government units are requiring an additional 10-14 days quarantine. often in a "facility". don't forget your faceshield. it matters not that you are fully vaccinated. that's the short answer. the long answer is at times hilariously funny, or extremely tragic. sometimes both.

 

[eagerbeaver]

this place is in no way going to open this year. for most of the past 18 months you could not travel from one province - and sometimes one town/city - to another without being required to quarantine. often in a facility. and by facility i mean covered basketball court. it is as bad now as it ever has been. if you are married to a filipino/filipina, have minor children here, or a holder of an srrv you can enter. with a visa. then hotel quarantine for ten days, followed by 4 days quarantine in your destination lgu. the reality is many local government units are requiring an additional 10-14 days quarantine. often in a "facility". don't forget your faceshield. it matters not that you are fully vaccinated. that's the short answer. the long answer is at times hilariously funny, or extremely tragic. sometimes both.

I'd have to say that this is a bit excessive and almost scare-mongering.

For the past 18months, you've been able to travel quite openly actually. Certainly within the Visayan Region, and Cebu Province especially. I am based in Malapascua and have been here the entire time -except for when I've been to the south of Cebu(twice), Cebu City(3 times), Bogo City(6+times). Additionally my daughter who lives on Negros has been here 4 times, and we have had guests diving with us from Mindanao, Negros and Luzon(Manila). None of those people have had to quarantine at all at any time. The groups coming from Manila have been very happy with the ease of the trip and at no point have there been any kind of check points or anything else causing delays to travel.

Now having said that, I'm not saying you're completely wrong, and I'm not saying I agree with the current situation. It's definitely not going as well or as quickly as it could, and as quickly as many businesses need. But let's not spread incorrect information that can hurt those businesses more. We are literally surviving on the few people that can travel domestically - and it will be that way for a while - so it would actually be much better for us to share how EASY it is to move around and visit tourist destinations, which is the reality in large areas of the country. A lot of people are still scared, and they shouldn't be, so let's not discourage them further.

The tourism industry needs the borders open - but until that time we need domestic tourism to be allowed, applauded, and encouraged as much as possible, the local staff really need that.

 

[Centrals]

Great to know that all is well in Malapascua.
When the time it is able to travel into the country freely. I would imagine the demand for the flight will be so high that the airlines can hike the fare up without too much of complaint!
Take good care mate.

 

[xrcjdx]

matt i can assure you that your experience in cebu province under gov garcia is the provincial exception and not the rule. my entries into cebu province (moalboal, mactan, and mandaue) have been mostly seemless - as long as i was staying in the province and not cebu city itself, which has its own strict testing and quarantine rules which at the time at least were unique in cebu province. friends who have gone to manila and parts of luzon have had similarly easy experiences. but you are right - it is fairly straight forward to travel in certain areas of the country, and right as well to single out cebu province in particular. but unless you are a resident, getting back to where you came from - maybe not so much. my own experience is 42 days of quarantine between september 2020 - september 2021, albeit home quarantine (because there is no one else living in the house - otherwise it means "facility" quarantine). for a short time padre burgos was even requiring barangay passes to dive with a resort from those coming from a directly neighboring lgu!

While you have had guests from mindanao and negros, have you tried to go there? good luck. this patchwork of iatf regulations implemented at the discretion of the provinces down to the lgu is a joke. and they can change at a moments' (lack of) notice. remember test-less, quaratine-less travel for (the very few) vaccinated domestic traveller? that lasted all of 48 hours. you just can't reasonably get here from there. but if you are from region 8, sometimes you can.

that said, i am not trying to discourage domestic travel. the philippines government(s) are doing a great job without me.