US Government says travelers should defer trips to the Philippines

US State Department bars travel to the Philippines

MANILA – The United States government has advised its citizens not to travel to the Philippines due to COVID-19.

In a recent post, the same advisory counselled American nationals to “exercise increased caution due to crime, terrorism, civil unrest, and kidnapping.”

The Centers for Disease Control Prevention (CDC) issued a Level 4 Travel Health Notice for the Philippines due to COVID-19, “indicating a very high level of COVID-19 in the country.”

In its website the CDC described Level 4 as “Very high level of COVID-19” which means “travelers should avoid all travel to these destinations.”

The same advisory also warned American nationals not to travel to the Sulu Archipelago, including southern Sulu Sea, due to crime, terrorism, civil unrest and kidnapping. They also warned their citizens not to travel to Marawi City in Mindanao due to terrorism and civil unrest.

They further said Americans should reconsider traveling to other areas in Mindanao for reasons of crime, terrorism, civil unrest and kidnapping.

The COVID-19 Information was updated last Monday, April 19. 2021.

Prior to the onslaught of COVID-19, the Department of Tourism listed arrivals from the United States reached 1.06 million with a 2,905 increase from 2018. It will be recalled South Korea was the top source of the Philippines’ foreign tourists with 1.98 million which manifested 22.48% growth from 2018. China, meanwhile, placed second with 1.74 million where a 38.58 percent increase from 2018 was observed. (Melo M. Acuña)