IATF Resolution 101: Travel Authority and Health Certificate No Longer Required

Under IATF Resolution No. 1, COVID Shield Travel Authority and Medical Certificates are no longer required for all forms of travel (land, air, sea) within the Philippines. There is also no more mandatory quarantine unless you exhibit symptoms or you are still waiting for your PCR test results. The resolution aims to ease up on travel requirements previously required by the different LGUs across the country.

However, you will still need to get in touch with the LGU of your destination to inquire about their other document requirements such as acceptance letters or a PCR test from one of the licensed testing laboratories.

For the list of provisions and protocols in regards to IATF Resolution No. 101, you can find them below. The list comes from the official document provided on the DOH website.

IATF Resolution No. 101 Provisions and Protocols

A. On Minimum Public Health Standards

1. Minimum public health standards, which include physical distancing, hand hygiene, cough etiquette, and wearing of face masks and face shields among others, shall be strictly implemented across all settings; and
2. Clinical and exposure assessment shall be strictly implemented in all ports of entry and exit to ensure that only asymptomatic, non-close contact individuals are allowed to travel or enter the local government unit of destination. Health assessment of passengers, supervised by medical doctors, shall be mandatory upon entry in the port/terminal and exit at point of destination;

B. On Testing and Quarantine

1. Testing shall not be mandatory for traveler except if the LGU of destination (province with respect to their municipalities and component cities, and highly urbanized cities [HUCs] and independent component cities [ICCs]) will require testing as a requirement prior to travel, and such shall be limited to RT-PCR; and
2. No traveler shall be required to undergo quarantine unless they exhibit symptoms upon arrival at the LGU of destination;

C. On Documentary Requirements

1. Travel Authority issued by Joint Task Force COVID Shield and health certificates shall no longer be required;
2. Authorized Persons Outside of Residence (APORs) from national government agencies and their attached agencies must provide their identification card, travel order, and travel itinerary, and must pass symptom-screening at ports of entry and exit pursuant to IATF Resolution No. 98-A issued on February 4, 2021.

D. On Information and Communication Technology Solutions

1. The Safe, Swift, and Smart Passage (S-PaSS) Travel Management System of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) shall be institutionalized as the one-stop-shop application/communication for travelers. For this purpose, a focal person from the province with respect to their municipalities and component cities, and from HUCs and ICCs shall be assigned; and
2. The StaySafe.ph System shall be utilized as the primary contact tracing system. Traze App for airports, and such other existing contact tracing applications must be integrated with the StaySafe.ph System following IATF Resolution No. 85 issued on November 25, 2020.

E. On Ports/Terminals

1. All terminals must have assigned sufficient quarantine/isolation facilities;
2. All ports and terminals shall put in place a referral system wherein travelers who become symptomatic shall be transferred to quarantine/isolation facilities to enable the Bureau of Quarantine for airports, or local health officials in case of LGUs, to take over;
3. For the National Capital Region, all buses bound for provinces shall be required to use the Integrated Terminal Exchange as the central hub for transportation. No bus company or public transport shall be allowed use of their private terminals; and
4. At their option, LGUs may provide transportation for all travelers who are transiting from one LGU to another in cases of arrivals at air and seaports to their end-point destinations.

These uniform travel protocols shall be applicable to all LGUs and may be further refined and/or amended jointly by the DILG, DOH, DOT, DOTr, DOST, and the PNP, without further need of an IATF issuance. For this purpose, the aforementioned agencies as well as other identified agencies, and the local government units are enjoined to ensure smooth implementation of these protocols.

Source: DOH