Philippines: Hotel rooms run out as country sees surge in Christmas travel amid mandatory quarantine

With current pandemic curbs, foreign tourists are still not allowed in the Philippines. But tens of thousands of returning Filipinos are unfazed, ready to face mandatory quarantines to see loved ones at this special time of the year. Quarantine is usually done — free of cost for OFWs — in a hotel in major cities. Now, the government now faces a new problem: with a spike in inbound travel despite COVID, there are not enough quarantine hotel rooms left. While this makes family reunions possible, it also means a much shorter holiday for those visiting loved ones only once a year or even two years. Still, tens of thousands are flying into quarantine. A mandatory 7-day stay in government-designated facilities — even for the fully vaccinated — is in plane. And airports teem with “Balikbayans" and OFWs. The government spends an estimated Php30 million per day to house OFWs in quarantine facilities. “I’ve had four vaccines — two Sinopharm shots and two doses of Pfizer boosters. I've also had a flu shot — all within this 2021,” said Crispulo H., who landed from Dubai in Manila recently. “This mandatory 7-day quarantine plus 14-day home quarantine, is a bit too much,” added Crispulo, who is on his fifth day of hotel quarantine. “I feel this is totally unnecessary, it borders on paranoia.”