Has been waiting since early 2020

[Centrals]

The country has been more or less off limited to most visitors for quite a while.
But I would like to hear any first hand experience on travelling within the country just out of curiosity.
Much appreciated.

 

[flying fish]

The country has been more or less off limited to most visitors for quite a while.
But I would like to hear any first hand experience on travelling within the country just out of curiosity.
Much appreciated.

I went to Cebu last week and had no problem whatsoever. They do require a rapid antigen test and asked for it during check in. Didn’t encounter a single checkpoint going into Cebu City. Also drove down to Batangas for the weekend. Encountered a “checkpoint” where the guy asked me where I was going. Told them I was going to Mabini, and that was it. There’s also a petition by airlines and business groups to shorten the quarantine periods for international travelers. Proposal is for passengers abroad to get swab test 72 hours before the flight then quarantine at a hotel, get swabbed in the 3rd day and if negative, out on the 4th or 5th day. Let’s hope the IATF seriously consider this option.

 

[clownfishsydney]

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.

Not correct. We arrived in Manila on 9 March 2020. No cases really in whole country. All of a sudden on 17 or 18 March the country was closed. We escaped on 19 March. I was on last flight out of Manila to Sydney. Friends could not get on that flight and had to go 20 March via Bangkok. Country closed 20 March.

 

[Barmaglot]

All of a sudden on 17 or 18 March the country was closed.

As I said, it wasn't 'all of a sudden'; I was seeing warnings about imminent closure at least 3-4 days before I left (i.e. 10-11th of March). Yes, there wasn't a lot of warning, but there was a week and some change. I flew from Tel Aviv to Dumaguete via Addis Abeba and Manila on March 2nd through 4th; my original plan was to return to Israel on March 14th, then fly to USA for work on 18th - with the gradual onset of border closures worldwide, I flew from Dumaguete to Manila on 14th as planned, but instead of going on my flight to Tel Aviv, my employer paid for me to get a ticket at the Philippine Airlines office at NAIA straight to New York (there was a monster of a line to get to that counter...) and I returned home on the 28th (me and my boss who joined me there for that project actually got kicked out of the hotel on the last morning; they locked the hotel behind us!). Ended up isolating at home for over a month after that too, due to a screwup with testing.

 

[Centrals]

I am pretty sure if another person came in he/she will give different version on this matter. This is Philippines after all.
One thing we can all agree is "corruption"! Shame.

 

[Rickk]

I came to Moalboal in early March 2020 for a planned 6 week dive experience. Got caught in the hard lock down in late March and had a 3 month surface interval with not much moving around. Diving restarted here in July 2020 and I have been diving several times a week here, taken the TDI Deco and advanced Nitrox courses as well with no issues.

I have been around the south part of the island no problems and go into Cebu City without any hassles. Just need mask and face shield in Cebu and the local malls, just mask for shopping in Moalboal and no real needs outside that.

The government even vaccinated me for free.

I decided to just stay here until things return to normal or at least what will become the new normal. I moved out of my short term rental a year ago and just signed the one year extension on my new lease here. I am retired and was looking for a place to live when this happened and Moalboal is as good a place as any to be and a lot better than many other places.

Overall life in Cebu is pretty good.