Citizens of the Philippines may not be eligible to travel visa-free to Taiwan anymore, according to a recent announcement of the Taiwan authorities that they are looking forward to restricting visas to citizens of the Philippines after the latter included Taiwan in its ‘Coronavirus travel ban list’.
The Coronavirus outbreak pushed the Philippines to add Taiwan to its travel restriction countries, after the World Health Organization listed the latter as a part of China and for that, the Philippines foresaw it necessary to tighten entry conditions for this country, VisaGuide.World reports.
The Chair of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) in Taipei, Angelito Banayo, said that canceling the visa-free entry for citizens of the Philippines could be among the “reactive measures” that the government of Taiwan may impose in retaliation of the travel ban.
“This could be the first step. Anything is possible,” Banayo said.
The main reason why the restriction of visa-free travel has happened, according to Banayo, is considered to be a politic one, rather than health-related one.
Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) Chairman said that the Cabinet of the President Tsai Ing-wen has already made a list of possible retaliatory measures against the Philippines due to travel restriction.
In the previous week, the Philippines has made an announcement showing the changes in the travel application procedures as a measure to prevent the Coronavirus spread in the country.
Related to that statement, Taiwanese citizens who want to visit the Philippines will be asked to provide a recent travel history when applying for a visa, in addition to foreign travelers who have been to China or its administrative regions in the past three weeks, highlights the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO).
MECO’s statement pointed out that all foreign travelers, regardless of nationality, who have visited China, Hong Kong or Macau the last 21 days, will not be eligible to enter the Philippines.
Taiwan was granted a 14-day visa-free privilege in 2017 by the Philippines, which then was extended until July 2020.