ARMAN BAYLON/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO
President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday said he would deal with travelers and port authorities conspiring to eschew travel restrictions amid the Covid-19 pandemic as the threat of the more infectious coronavirus variant continued to loom.
“There are reports that some people are skipping, na nakakalusot sila with the help of airport personnel at sa mga barko. I say this now as I have said it before: Do not do it kasi mayayari talaga kayo,” he warned in a televised address.
“You do it by allowing unauthorized travel when all of us are really worried of containing the contamination, na ikontrol in and out. Almost every country now are controlling the entry and the departure of their citizens. Hindi lang tayo mga Pilipino, hindi lang tayo,” he continued.
The president said he was willing to remove from their posts airport and seaport personnel who sneak passengers into the country.
“Kayong mga taga health diyan, sa mga taga-quarantine, pagka may na — may nahuli lang ako na isa, I will — lahat kayo palitan ko. I will assign you to the provinces and I will get the new ones from the other — assigned in other cities also. Magpalit kayo,” he said.
Travelers entering the country are required to present negative Covid-19 tests and undergo a 14-day quarantine.
The Philippines has a travel ban imposed on flights from the United Kingdom and other countries where the new virus strain was detected, up to Jan. 15, 2020.
The Philippines’ travel ban covers the following countries:
USA
UK
Denmark
Ireland
Japan
Australia
Israel
The Netherlands
Hong Kong, SAR
Switzerland
France
Germany
Iceland
Italy
Lebanon
Singapore
Sweden
South Korea
South Africa
Canada
Spain
The Philippines has recorded 478,761 Covid-19 cases as of Jan. 4. John Ezekiel J. Hirro