Current Expat Situation because of lockdown in Philippines?

When locals hear you've been in Cebu they back away from you - even the medical people dressed in hazmat suits. I made sure to find a hotel that was in the other direction from the Mactan airport.

Well done. 😀👍

Raining. Thanks for the info. Very helpful.

sorry Rcvining. Auto spell check said "raining" instead of Rcvining.

Hi RC. Thanks for all the info. Very helpful!

rcvining wrote:

When locals hear you've been in Cebu they back away from you - even the medical people dressed in hazmat suits. I made sure to find a hotel that was in the other direction from the Mactan airport.

Sounds like a good way to get them to back up off of you and create a little distance. 😂

Tim_L wrote:

rcvining wrote:

When locals hear you've been in Cebu they back away from you - even the medical people dressed in hazmat suits. I made sure to find a hotel that was in the other direction from the Mactan airport.

Sounds like a good way to get them to back up off of you and create a little distance. 😂

Must remember that one Tim and I'll pass that one onto Ben for his supermarket and wet market shopping.

Cheers, Steve.

rcvining wrote:

Cagayan de Oro is still imposing a 14-day quarantine for non-locals, despite the clearance in Cebu. They bussed us to a holding facility (open-air high school) and at the end of the day sent about 10 of us to a 1-star hotel (no elevator, no wifi, no window, no hot water). They have run out of nicer accommodations. You are not allowed to leave the room and they drop off meals at your door.

Luckily my wife was able to secure a nice studio apartment down the hall from where she's been staying, but it still took a lot of work to get the barangay and local health department to sign off. So I only had to spend 1 night in jail. Breathe. Patience. This too shall pass.

Hi Rich. Hope you are doing okay in quarantine. We hope to arrive in CDO July 28 or 29. The information you have posted is very helpful. We are hoping to be allowed to home quarantine in a studio apartment with wifi, too. Or a furnished house/Airbnb with wifi.
Any thoughts or advice on the best way to approach this with the LGU, etc?
Thank you,
TrainWreck

Thanks, TrainWreck. The local health dept / LGUs are short of hotel rooms for quarantine, so they will welcome your plan to home quarantine. The key for you will be someone on the ground here that will be taking care of getting you groceries, etc. That person should secure the apartment and ask the LGU to inspect it before you arrive. From the airport, you will be taken to a processing facility which the LGUs are all aware of, and the LGU will arrange transport from there to your apartment (although in my case, my brother-in-law picked me up and we were met at the apartment by the LGU). The LGU leader where I'm at (Carmen) has been very helpful and she will probably be a good friend for my wife going forward. I wish you and your wife all the best, and please keep in touch. -- Rich

Hi RC. Assume you are at home now and finished your 14 days. Any updates you can provide on how it all went and how things are now in CO.

Hi, JW. Today is my last day. The baranguy captain should be here soon to take my temperature and sign off on my release. It all went pretty quickly. They never checked up on me, but my wife did, so maybe she's been reporting back to them.

It looks like everything in CDO is pretty normal, except you have to wear a mask when you go out. Restaurants are all open, the call center across the street appears to be at full strength. My wife has been out buying furniture, appliances, and fixtures for our new home. Her family has been visiting with her. All I need now (besides a long hug) is a San Miguel beer or three.

How are your plans progressing?

Hi, Rich. Glad to hear you're doing well there. We rented a furnished house with wi-fi in brgy Barra, Opol for one month, including the 14-day home quarantine. They are getting it inspected by the LGU. We expect to arrive July 28 or 29.

Quick question:  Did you have to show any kind of document from the LGU or local police (Certificate of Acceptance?) before being allowed to board your domestic flight from Mactan to CDO? Or, did you just need to show the negative swab test result and ID?

Best regards,
TrainWreck

Hi, TW. That's excellent.

It was very early in the morning, so my memory may be foggy, but I don't remember having to show anything other than my flight reservation and passport. I did have to walk through a shoe sanitizer and had my temperature checked before security. Nothing was open at the airport, so be sure to eat or bring some food with you.

Hi RC. Thanks for the update. Very helpful! Glad things went fairly smoothly for you. I am heading there first week of August. I was hoping they would start the policy of accepting test results takem immediately before departure from originating country (ie. Canada in my case) rather than doing the test after arrival  and then doing a few days in a hotel waiting for result. But so far there is no sign they have started that yet. The crimson resort you stayed at looks pretty nice though so I guess a few nights there would be relaxing.

By the way, thanks for the heads up on documents you needed for travel. I am a permanent resident with 13A visa but since my wife and family won't be traveling with me I will also have marriage certificate, passport copy, etc. just in case.

My house in Tarlac City is about 2 months from completion so really need to be there at this stage.

Thanks for sharing your experiences.  Enjoy those San Miguels!

Here is part of the PAL advisory talking about testing prior to departure from originating country.

International Travel (Arrivals):
PAL has been working closely with the IATF, other regulatory bodies and airport authorities to find
solutions to increase arrival capacities. THESE PROPOSALS INCLUDE:

- Accreditation and acceptance of PCR testing done prior to departure from foreign countries (For
instance, to allow US-based travelers to be tested in the US before departure, and accept only
those with COVID-negative results for travel on PAL flights).
Note: This proposal is under consideration, we will announce if approved and implemented.
- Rerouting flights to other IATF-approved airports such as Mactan Cebu International Airport and
Clark International Airport, where more testing (results available in 24-48 hours) and quarantine
facilities are available. In these situations, PAL will arrange for transfer to NAIA for passengers
that receive negative test results.
- Coordinating for approval of outside-DOH accredited testing companies to augment NAIA testing
capacity.

THINGS WILL GET BETTER
Efforts by PAL together with our government officials will lead to more stable and frequent
schedules. We are also hopeful that these actions will increase capacity to allow more of our
fellow Filipinos to come back to the country.
We sincerely apologize to our passengers and their families. Like you, we want to fly again, to fly
more, and -- always -- to fly safely. We join the authorities and our service

CNN Article on tourists allowed in Philippines in August.

[img]C:\Users\Jim\Desktop\viber_image_2020-07-17_08-31-47[/img]

[img]C:\Users\Jim\Desktop\viber_image_2020-07-17_08-31-48

The URL links I just sent might not work. Not sure why Expat.com makes it so difficult to attached images.

Here is a link to the CNN web site that mentions allowing foreigners in starting August.

https://cnnphilippines.com/news/2020/7/ … risis.html

If you already have SRRV or long term Visa

do you mean that tourist can come in?

If you already have SRRV or long term Visa

Here is the link to the article

https://www.sunstar.com.ph/article/1863 … -in-August

I may have missed it but I do not see any mention of SRRV.  The article does not define "long term" visas.  PRA still says they are working on it.  It could mean 13a only.  And of course 1August is an eternity.

https://youtu.be/QNrEJrJmbLI

The guy who did the video assumes that SRRVs are included.  They may be but there is no new information from the PRA.  If you read the 2nd paragraph in the document that he shows, it does not mention SRRVs.

PRA

I've seen the video and read the articles. I was just wondering if it's fair that a foreigner with no long visa can't visit his Filipino child and stay with him and his mother while a foreigner with long visa can enter the country even if he doesn't have a family, maybe just for tourist purpose

Anyway if it will happen what there is written in the articles it would be still a good news and hopefully a first step for further opening esp for those who have a family in philippines even if not with long visa

Hi, CarNin. I don't know about your situation but you are right that it would be fair to let you into the country to visit your child. However, the people on the front lines (immigration officers) do not respond to fairness or logic. They simply follow the rules that they have been instructed to follow. If there is any question, they go to their supervisor.

You should also consider that in many places the children (under 20) and elderly (over 60) are still being protected by stay-at-home orders. That may be a factor in allowing you to visit your child. I know a lot of people that are limited to contacting their loved ones using video chat services.

rcvining wrote:

You should also consider that in many places the children (under 20) and elderly (over 60) are still being protected by stay-at-home orders. That may be a factor in allowing you to visit your child. I know a lot of people that are limited to contacting their loved ones using video chat services.

I know about protecting young people and senior citizens and i agree with that but there is still a way to let a father to visit his child and stay with him, the gov could ask to bring a test of covid before departure and if it's not enough they could do the same test upon arrival, of course paid by the traveller. When there is a will there is a way.

If i don't mistake i've read somewhere that philippines is the country with longest lockdown all around world and i don't think that philippines is the only country with problems about heath care.

I hope the gov will consider that they can't keep the people in this situation for still long time bec the consequences are worse than what the virus can lead to

Hi RC. Just curious. When you were doing your home quarantine in CDO, did anyone actually check to see if you were at home? My mother in law returned to Tarlac a few weeks ago and after the 2 day hotel quarantine waiting for test results, no one actually checked to see if she was staying at home for the remainder of the quarantine.  Not saying anyone should not do quarantine at home but just wondering if it is actually being enforced.

Hello all
I know this pandemic is a dangerous medical condition but has anyone thought of the numbers ? if the Philippines with a population of 100 million + and everyone came in contact with the virus over a 10 year period, that would be 30,000 a day, this not what we are seeing. I am not a conspiracy theorist, but things do not add up to me. any other thoughts out there ?
regards  Bruce

huh
What has 10 years got to do with anything and why would you think that everyone has come in contact with it?  The number of people who have become infected is the number who have come in contact with it. That number would be 74,400 plus undiagnosed.  So all of those people have in someway been in contact with the virus.  Also there would be an unknown number who came in contact but did not get infected.

Hi, JW. For the 1 night that I spent in the LGU-sponsored "hotel", a nurse did stop by a couple of times to check my temperature. Once I moved to my home quarantine, I was just asked to take my own temperature twice per day. No visits at all. Prior to 'discharge', I was asked to send my record of temperature readings to the LGU. My wife tells me that the property managers told the LGU that they would be responsible for my quarantine and they were not needed!! When they came to give me the all-clear, there was nothing more than a 'thank you', which I reciprocated for their efforts to keep their citizens safe from us dangerous outsiders :-)

This attorney does mention SRRV.

https://youtu.be/Ck7qC38-rR8

Thanks RC

Here in Canada the government has started random testing for covid antibodies (antibodies indicate that the virus was present but was taken care of properly by the immune system) to see how many were infected but did not develop any symptoms and never even knew they had it.  The first set of results released was from 1,000 random Red Cross blood donations. In those 1,000 samples they found covid antibodies in just over 1% of the samples (10 out of 1,000). Doesn't sound like much until you extrapolate to the entire population. The official number of detected cases of actively infected people in Canada today is about 114,000. For Canada's population of about 38,000,000, if the 1% number is indicative, the real number of people who have been infected by covid is about 380,000 (more than 3 times the number detected through active infection tests). That would seem to indicate that covid has spread much further in the population than thought but the official numbers remain lower than the reality because 2/3 of those infected never develop symptoms so are never tested for an active infection. That also of course means the fatality rate per infection is much lower than is assumed. Time to get back on with life.

I read a good article yesterday (https://www.redstate.com/beccalower/202 … d=flagship) on having a pragmatic attitude toward living your life during this pandemic, comparing the risks to those of driving a motor vehicle. In brief, accept that you will most likely get infected at some point, will most likely recover from it, and most likely will infect someone else. Similar to the chances of getting into and recovering from a car crash. So go about your business, but like wearing a seatbelt, staying within the speed limit, and not driving drunk, you can minimize the risks by following basic safety guidelines (don't go out if you don't need to; wash your hands; socially distance; and wear a mask). Seems like a reasonable approach.

best advice

We arrived in Cagayan de Oro last Tuesday, July 28. We are in 14-day home quarantine at an Airbnb in Opol. I am here with my dual-citizen wife and daughter. The barangay health center comes out once or twice a day to take our temperature and record it. When we arrived at the airport, the LGU came and picked us up for a rapid test, then transported us to the rental home. My brother lives nearby so he and his wife are bringing us groceries and supplies as needed.
Getting here was a real struggle. We bought airline tickets in early May, but our flights were cancelled/rescheduled more times than I can count. We left Shenandoah Regional (SHD) via United to LAX July 21. My wife went to the Philippine Consulate General in LA to get the required Dual Citizenship on July 23. We flew PAL the next day LAX > CEB where we had swab tests, results in about 18 hours. Then on to MNL for the Cebu Pacific flight to CGY Laguindingan. Upon arrival at Mactan, we each got a 1-year visa stamp (balikbayan status).
All is well so far. I guess I am now a retired expat. If our new life is anything like our current situation, I'll be very happy. When quarantine is finished next week we need to get a bank account and then a house to rent.

Good Luck and hope you guys "live happily ever after"

Very happy to hear you all made it, TW. I completely agree about the struggle you (and I) went through, but we are in a far better place now. And, speaking for myself, the struggle has been minuscule compared to what millions of others have had to endure. Our new house in Upper Balulang should be ready to move in within the next 2 or 3 weeks. Inspections should be happening this week. I hope we cross paths at some point. -- Rich

http://cnnphilippines.com/news/2020/8/8 … 0Nrc.email