The Bureau of Immigration (BI) suspended Tuesday the issuance of the visa upon arrival (VUA) system to help curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.
The move follows the travel lockdown in several cities in China, shutting down public transport services to prevent the spread of the deadly virus.
BI Commissioner Jaime Morente said “we are now temporarily suspending the issuance of VUA for Chinese nationals to slow down the influx of group tours.”
The VUA facility is often used by Chinese tour groups in visiting the Philippines.
The BI chief said a similar action was done by Taiwan immigration authorities which cancelled permits for 429 people in 24 tour groups from Wuhan, China.
However, Morente clarified that there is no order from higher officials barring Chinese nationals from entering the country.
“We have not received any directive imposing policy changes on Chinese nationals. But we are taking this proactive measure to slow down travel, and possibly help prevent the entry of the coronavirus” he stated.
He said the BI is always ready to assist the Department of Health (DoH) and the Bureau of Quarantine (BoQ) whatever information that they need in order to prevent the entry of this disease in the country.”
He added it is the responsibility of the BoQ to check and monitor arrivals of passengers. (Jun Ramirez)
