Philippines has revised its travel restrictions on who can enter the country. The National
Task Force Against COVID-19 will allow all Filipinos, whether Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW)
or not, to return to the Philippines. 

However, inbound foreign nationals are suspended to enter from March 22 to April 21 except for
the following:

● Diplomats and members of international organizations, and their dependents provided they hold a valid 9(e) visa or 47(a)(2) visa, as the case may be, at the time of entry;
  
● Foreign nationals involved in medical repatriation duly endorsed by the Department of Foreign Affairs-Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, provided that they have a valid visa at the time of entry;
  
● Foreign seafarers under the ‘Green Lanes’ program for crew change provided that they hold a 9(c) crew list visa at the time of entry;
  
● Foreign spouses and children of Filipino citizens traveling with them provided they have valid visas at the time of entry; and
  
● Emergency, humanitarian, and other analogous cases approved by the chairperson of the NTF COVID-19 or his duly authorized representative provided the foreign nationals have valid visas at the time of entry.

It also states that from March 22 to April 21, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) will set an arrival quota of 1500 per day for those wishing to enter the country.  

The memo was signed by Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana on March 18, 2021.

The revision came after the surge of COVID-19 infections with a reported 5,290 new cases, making it the second-highest daily count of this year. As of Sunday, the Philippines has 663,794 cases in total.