Philippines says to welcome back foreign tourists 'in due time'

The Philippines will reopen to international tourists "in due time," Malacañang said on Friday, as the country eased curbs in the capital region in a bid to spur business activity. 

Metro Manila's shift to Alert Level 2 from Alert 3 is "very encouraging," Palace spokesman Harry Roque said, when asked for a timeline on the entry of tourist visa holders to the country. 

"We will open tourism in due time... Titingnan din po natin iyong mga karanasan ng ibang bansa na nagbukas na po para sa international tourism," he said in a press briefing. 

(We will open tourism in due time. We will also look at the experience of other countries that have reopened to international tourism.) 

Government is also studying calls to expand its "green list" of territories whose travelers are no longer required to undergo facility-based quarantine upon arriving in the Philippines and showing a negative coronavirus test result. 
 
"Pero titingnan po natin ang siyensiya. Titingnan po natin ang datos, at pinag-aaralan po iyan; hindi po iyan isinantabi," Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said during the Palace briefing. 

• PH's total COVID-19 deaths surpass 44,000; over 2,000 new cases logged

(But we will look at the science. We will look at the data and we will study that. We are not setting that aside.)