PH Suspends All Commercial Flights For One Week

The Philippine government has decided to suspend all commercial flights to and from the country for one week beginning at 8 a.m. yesterday to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

- Martin A. Sadongdong, Dhel Nazario, And Ariel Fernandez

Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., chief implementer of the National Task Force COVID-19, said the decision was made also to free up space in quarantine facilities where tens of thousands of repatriated overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) undergo mandatory isolation.

“This decision is meant to decongest our quarantine facilities to protect our people by preventing the further spread of COVID-19 and also ensure that our overseas Filipino workers are well taken care of when they arrive from abroad,” Galvez said.

At present, he said, around 20,000 OFWs are being housed in quarantine facilities in Metro Manila before they are allowed to go back to their places of origin.

More than 1,700 OFWs have so far been infected with COVID-19, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) said all international flights wishing to land and depart must request an exemption with the CAAP Operations Center at least 36 hours before the scheduled departure from their place of origin.

“The new flight restriction is only temporary and will be implemented for one week to give the government the opportunity to decongest the quarantine facilities in Metro Manila,” Galvez said.