Health Secretary Duque unconsulted on quarantine exemption

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III expressed his lack of consultation regarding the decision to exempt fully vaccinated travelers from "green countries" from facility quarantine.

Duque mentioned that other key officials, including vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. and Interior Secretary Eduardo Año, were also absent during the deliberation.

He stated that he was attending a budget hearing with the Senate at the time the Inter-Agency Task Force against Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) made the decision.

Duque indicated that the IATF would discuss the matter further, as he has concerns about the policy and plans to raise them.

He previously advocated for a five-day quarantine period with a confirmatory test for arriving travelers.

Duque also noted that other countries, with higher national vaccination coverage, can afford to remove quarantine requirements, unlike the Philippines.

He raised concerns about travelers not all proceeding to the National Capital Region (NCR) but instead going to other regions like Davao and Cebu.