Filipinos in India and six other nations who are part of repatriation programs by the government and recruitment agencies may enter the Philippines despite a travel ban covering their host countries, Malacañang said Sunday.

MANILA – Filipinos in India and six other nations who are part of repatriation programs by the government and recruitment agencies may enter the Philippines despite a travel ban covering their host countries, Malacañang said Sunday.
Government had extended until the end of June its travel restrictions upon India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, United Arab Emirates, and Oman in a bid to prevent the entry of the Delta COVID-19 variant first detected in India.
“Let it be clear, however, that Filipinos covered by the repatriation programs of the government and repatriation activities of manning/recruitment agencies cleared by the Bureau of Quarantine are not prohibited from entering the Philippines,” Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said in a statement.
“They can enter the country, subject to testing and quarantine protocols.”
The World Health Organization has classified the Delta variant, first identified in India, as a variant of global concern.
India’s death toll more than doubled to more than 330,000, according to official figures. Many experts suspect the true toll is over a million.
–With a report from Agence France-Presse