MANILA — The inter-agency task force leading the country’s COVID-19 response said on Friday travelers who are fully vaccinated against the novel coronavirus are required to undergo a 7-day quarantine upon entering the Philippines. 
“All inbound fully vaccinated individuals shall be required to undergo a 7-day facility-based quarantine upon arrival. The BOQ (Bureau of Quarantine) shall ensure strict symptom monitoring while in the quarantine facility for 7 days,” said IATF and Malacañang spokesman Harry Roque. 
“RT-PCR test shall only be done when the individual manifests COVID-19 symptoms within the 7-day quarantine,” he said in a statement. 
An individual shall be considered as having been fully inoculated 2 or more weeks after receiving the second dose of a 2-dose vaccine regimen, or 2 or more weeks after receiving a single-dose vaccine, Roque said. 
“They must carry their vaccination card, which must be verified prior to departure, and must be presented to a Bureau of Quarantine (BOQ) representative for re-verification at the Department of Transportation (DOTr) One-Stop Shop upon arrival in the Philippines,” he said. 
NEW RULES DO NOT COVER OFWs 
The new rules will apply to travelers who were fully vaccinated in the Philippines, Roque said in a text message. 
The 7-day quarantine protocols do not cover overseas Filipinos workers who were fully vaccinated abroad and would go home to the Philippines. They have to stay 10 days at a quarantine facility upon returning to the Philippines, he said. 
The BOQ shall issue a quarantine certificate indicating the vaccination status upon completing the 7-day facility-based quarantine, he added. 
The tourism department earlier backed shortening the facility-based quarantine period to 7 days from 10 days for Filipinos returning from abroad.
Roque said the IATF tasked the National Economic and Development Authority and the health, trade, and foreign affairs department “to convene and provide recommendations to further relax testing and quarantine protocols for certain classes of travelers.”