Ninoy Aquino International Airport | Photo by John P. Solis via Wikimedia Commons
MANILA – The Department of Tourism (DOT) has introduced an eArrival card to replace the One Health Pass (OHP) to ease the country’s stringent entry protocols and attract more tourists.
DOT said the eArrival was put in effect due to several complaints from inbound travelers. Before the new system, travelers were required to register for the OHP a few days before their travel and complete the electronic Health Declaration Checklist (eHDC) on the day of departure.
According to the DOT, the eArrival was found more convenient after it was benchmarked against systems in the ASEAN-member countries.
The eArrival Card, the DOT said, removes unnecessary information fields for quicker completion of the traveler’s registration process. Tourism-related fields were reduced by half to less than ten items compared to 20 in the OHP. Fields such as traveler occupation and educational attainment were also removed.
Upon providing their travel details, personal information, health declaration, and vaccination details on the eArrival Card website: www.onehealthpass.com.ph, travelers will be issued a unique QR code.
Travelers must then capture a screenshot of the QR code on their mobile or computer device and present this to the Bureau of Quarantine (BoQ) officers at their destination airport in the Philippines.
Also, the eArrival Card is a browser-based system, which means travelers will no longer be required to download and install a mobile app to register. According to the DOT, the eArrival would eventually remove the need for travelers to fill up the physical arrival cards upon their arrival in the Philippines.
The DOT and the Department of Information and Communications Technology said they would continuously improve the system as they work towards making travel into the country more convenient.
“We at the DOT look forward to continuing this synergistic approach to the improvement of the overall tourist experience through close collaboration with our partner national government agencies under the guidance of President (Ferdinand R.) Marcos,” Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco said.
“Our shared aspiration is to provide travelers with better and stress-free services through continuous improvement of tourism enabling mechanisms in the country, digitalization, and liberalized entry protocols that provide the least inconvenience to travelers and convey that the Philippines is open and ready to receive travelers.”
–With Jay Domingo/PDM
