Just Arrived in Manila

[RO_AH 1,625]

I arrived in Manila yesterday. I flew PAL. They "require" you to wear a mask and face shield and the poor flight attendants look like they are dressed to enter a bio-hazard situation. If you do not have a face shield they will provide one. My mask was off (below my chin ) and shield was above my head or off for most of the flight. Same with most of the passengers in the premium economy section. I have no idea what it was like in economy section but I would assume about the same. After we landed and were at the gate, someone from the coast guard came onboard and read us all of the rules. After that a PAL attendant gave us all of the rules fir a second time. You are not allowed to stand up until they have finished and instructed you that you can stand. I was the first passenger to get off the plane so I am not sure if the process was longer due to waiting once it got crowded, but this is my experience. You have to stop at a total of 3 desks ( actually 3 sections each has multiple desks with people to assist you) and all of them have to scan your QR code from the One Health website where you enter your your information before you fly. Each desk asks a few questions and then they send you along. They are just some health questions, showing proof of quarantine hotel booking and transportation. All 3 desks took around 5 minutes. Next off to customs. That was less than a minute. Off to baggage claim. My bags were priority so they were already pulled from carousel and waiting. I grabbed a cart and loaded  my bags then off to the exit. Another coast guard person took a quick look at my papers and let me pass. I walked outside and there is my driver holding a sign with my name and hotel on it. I think he also scanned my qr code and then off to Hotel. Hotel scanned my qr code and sent me to my room. The door is cracked open so you can walk in. You are not given a room key so you can't leave. On the plane when they tell you the rules they warn you that if you break any rules you will have to start quarantine all over. There was information waiting for me to read when I entered the room. A little later the hotel front desk called me to go over the rules and information such as meals. We were told that it will be 7 days in hotel with arrival date being the first day and then receive PCR test. 8th day get results and certificate which allows you to go to LCU for the remainder of quarantine under whatever rules they impose. Most are not that strict from what I am told.

[Corgent 89]

Thanks for sharing. I take it you're not vaccinated so you didn't try to get the shorter quarantine?

[RO_AH 1,625]

52 minutes ago, Corgent said:

Thanks for sharing. I take it you're not vaccinated so you didn't try to get the shorter quarantine?

That's correct but it was shortened for non vaccinated too. I could have just said that I was and roll the dice. But that could come back to bite you pretty hard. I arrived on the 9th at 5pm. I take test on 15th. If negative I will be free in the morning of the 16th. I was expecting 10 days so this is much better.

[Joe Kano 327]

4 hours ago, RO_AH said:

I arrived in Manila yesterday. I flew PAL. They "require" you to wear a mask and face shield and the poor flight attendants look like they are dressed to enter a bio-hazard situation.

I wonder if that is PAL guidelines for them to dress like that? Or Philippines Government?  Do they wear the same garb for domestic?

[Joe Kano 327]

34 minutes ago, RO_AH said:

That's correct but it was shortened for non vaccinated too. I could have just said that I was and roll the dice. But that could come back to bite you pretty hard. I arrived on the 9th at 5pm. I take test on 15th. If negative I will be free in the morning of the 16th. I was expecting 10 days so this is much better.

How long is your expected stay in the Philippines?

[RO_AH 1,625]

3 minutes ago, Joe Kano said:

I wonder if that is PAL guidelines for them to dress like that? Or Philippines Government?  Do they wear the same garb for domestic?

No idea on the domestic side

2 minutes ago, Joe Kano said:

How long is your expected stay in the Philippines?

I leave on the 29th. Just here for a little visit and to bring my wife and babies home.

[jg121783 3,908]

7 hours ago, RO_AH said:

That's correct but it was shortened for non vaccinated too. I could have just said that I was and roll the dice. But that could come back to bite you pretty hard. I arrived on the 9th at 5pm. I take test on 15th. If negative I will be free in the morning of the 16th. I was expecting 10 days so this is much better.

Makes no sense to me why they require a lengthy quarantine before you are even tested. Seems to me it would make more sense to test upon arrival and once you have a negative result you are free to go (that is if you even buy into any of this faulty PCR test/quarantine song and dance in the first place). I hope things are different when my wife and I visit her family next year but I'm not gonna hold my breath. We only have 30 days we can spend there due to our jobs and it would suck to spend 1/3 of our time held as prisoners in a hotel room.

 

Edit: I was just discussing this with my wife and she seems to think it's all about money and has nothing to do with covid.

Edited October 10, 2021 by jg121783

[tomigaoka 8]

Is that your original PAL flight date? Im assuming you flight date to philippines was never cancelled right?

 

[RO_AH 1,625]

2 hours ago, tomigaoka said:

Is that your original PAL flight date? Im assuming you flight date to philippines was never cancelled right?

Actually my original data was 10/12. They used to have 2 flights a day from Honolulu. They changed it to 1 and my flight was rebooked to 10/15th. I called them and said that was too short of a trip and they moved me to the 8th.

[RO_AH 1,625]

6 hours ago, jg121783 said:

Makes no sense to me why they require a lengthy quarantine before you are even tested. Seems to me it would make more sense to test upon arrival and once you have a negative result you are free to go (that is if you even buy into any of this faulty PCR test/quarantine song and dance in the first place). I hope things are different when my wife and I visit her family next year but I'm not gonna hold my breath. We only have 30 days we can spend there due to our jobs and it would suck to spend 1/3 of our time held as prisoners in a hotel room.

 

Edit: I was just discussing this with my wife and she seems to think it's all about money and has nothing to do with covid.

The reason for the quarantine prior to testing is because there is an incubation period prior to testing positive. You could catch it on the plane ride or the day before your trip. Actually this type of protocol is the only one that makes sense. Mind you I am not saying that I am pro quarantine or testing but most policies make no sense at all. My belief is if you are young and healthy go about life and open everything up. The people who catch it would get over it and increase real herd immunity and the elderly and people in high risk groups should self quarantine. If that had been done globally we would be over covid already just like every previous pandemic. But that is not good policy for the media fear pimps and the giant pharmaceutical companies.

 

As for the way that they are handling it in the Philippines I believe it is more about stupidity and control than money. This is obviously hurting the country financially. 

[D Dub718 2]

Hi. I am traveling to Cebu on October 17. I was wondering if you had to secure a negative RT-PCR test within 48 hours of your departure. I am finding mixed answers regarding that. Thanks in advance.

[RO_AH 1,625]

26 minutes ago, D Dub718 said:

Hi. I am traveling to Cebu on October 17. I was wondering if you had to secure a negative RT-PCR test within 48 hours of your departure. I am finding mixed answers regarding that. Thanks in advance.

If you are travelling from US then no. I am not sure about domestic flights.

[PWB 213]

On 10/10/2021 at 12:51 PM, jg121783 said:

Makes no sense to me why they require a lengthy quarantine before you are even tested. Seems to me it would make more sense to test upon arrival and once you have a negative result you are free to go (that is if you even buy into any of this faulty PCR test/quarantine song and dance in the first place). I hope things are different when my wife and I visit her family next year but I'm not gonna hold my breath. We only have 30 days we can spend there due to our jobs and it would suck to spend 1/3 of our time held as prisoners in a hotel room.

 

Edit: I was just discussing this with my wife and she seems to think it's all about money and has nothing to do with covid.

Makes me wonder if all this is brought to you by the same people who find the white line on the X-Ray at St. Lukes and makes you take sputum after sputum test.

[dnavinnie 132]

Thank you for sharing. I will be flying there to pick up my wife and step-daughter in November. I sent an email with all of my requirements for a 9A Visa to the Philippine Consulate in New York. How long did it take you to get your temp visa? 

[RO_AH 1,625]

18 minutes ago, dnavinnie said:

Thank you for sharing. I will be flying there to pick up my wife and step-daughter in November. I sent an email with all of my requirements for a 9A Visa to the Philippine Consulate in New York. How long did it take you to get your temp visa? 

I think about a week.