February 14, 2022
Philippine immigration told them they need to be vaccinated in other countries like Singapore or have a WHO International Vaccination Certificate.
SHAH ALAM: A total of 15 Malaysian tourists were stranded at Manila's Ninoy Aquino International Airport after the group was not allowed to enter the Philippines by immigration after receiving vaccines in Malaysia.
According to The Star portal on Sunday, a passenger reportedly said they were informed by the country’s immigration authorities that the digital vaccine certificate in the MySejahtera app was not accepted as proof of vaccination.
Therefore, the Philippine authorities did not allow the entry of 15 passengers who arrived via flight from Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) on Sunday while their passports were also confiscated and informed that they would be sent home on Tuesday.
“However, passengers who are on a flight from KLIA but receive the vaccine in Singapore or the United Kingdom are allowed access to that country.
"Our passports were confiscated and we were told we would be sent home. Since there was no hotel available, we had to sleep on benches or floors, "he said.
The passengers said the Philippine immigration authorities told them they needed to be vaccinated in other countries such as Singapore or have a World Health Organization (WHO) International Vaccination Certificate.
Of the group of tourists, 13 of them are Malaysians and two more foreigners arrived in the Philippines on business, personal and humanitarian matters.
The Malaysian Ambassador to the Philippines was reported to have met he stranded passengers and they were very grateful that he would be doing his best to help.
“We were told that the Malaysian Embassy in the Philippines had sent an appeal for reciprocity of vaccination last Thursday but there was no update from the Philippine Foreign Affairs Agency.
"They tried their best to negotiate immigration with the Malaysia Airlines team, but were unsuccessful and now they were stranded," said the passenger.
Philippine Immigration also stressed that the Malaysian Embassy will have to wait until Monday morning to contact the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for approval.
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