Check Airline Advisories on Travel Requirements
More often than not, the top 3 airlines in the Philippines would have posted travel guidelines and lists of requirements you need to prepare before your trip. Based on experience, Philippine Airlines’ guidelines are most updated. Head over to all three to get a clear, complete picture of these requirements:
Philippine Airlines / PAL Express
Check S-PaSS Requirements
The S-PaSS system is mandated by the IATF to be used by Locally Stranded Individuals (LSIs), Returning Overseas Filipinos (ROFs) Emergency Travelers (ETs), tourists, and other travelers, in order to make it Safe, Swift, and Smart. S-PaSS is a travel management system developed by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) VI.
This is a convenient system to check the travel requirements needed by your departure and arrival destinations. More and more LGUs are adopting this system which would make it more convenient on the part of the traveler. S-PaSS will tell you if the destination has restricted or unrestricted travel policy. You can generate a Travel Coordination Permit (TCP) which replaces the Travel Authority, with the system.
Take note, that if your final destination is marked as:
- RESTRICTED – You will need to secure a Travel Coordination Permit (TCP)
- UNRESTRICTED – No TCP Need
But if you are passing through an LGU that is restricted, you will need a Travel Pass-through Permit (TPP)
- UNRESTRICTED BUT PASSING THROUGH RESTRICTED – Need Travel Pass-through Permit (TPP)
Proceed here to the S-PaSS Website to check your requirements and easily generate the necessary permits.
Check LGU Requirements
Airline and even IATF travel guidance would almost always advise to check the arrival travel requirements stipulated by your destination Local Government Unit (LGU) which is the City/Municipality of your destination.
If the S-PaSS details are not enough, we would suggest doing any of the following:
- Go to Facebook and search for “LGU name PIO” for their Public Information Office, or just “LGU Name”, or “LGU Name Travel Requirements”
- Proceed to your LGU’s official website. Search for it here.
Check Latest IATF Resolutions
Finally, read up on the latest IATF Resolutions that would otherwise dictate the travel requirements of destinations and conduct of travel in the Philippines. Take note that even if the IATF rules on certain procedures likes fully vaccinated individuals no longer needing to have an RT-PCR Test, the LGU will need to adopt it first. In other words, the situation in the LGU destination may be different than what the IATF rules.
Thanks for these very useful resources. It can be so complicated to travel at the moment between the different islands of the archipelago as so many guidelines differ from each other. Here’s indeed a great place to start with these online services, that every traveler within the Philippines should know about!