Philippines OKs vax certificates of Bulgaria, Iran, Panama

The Philippine government has recognized the COVID-19 vaccine certificates of three more countries, namely Bulgaria, Iran and Panama, Malacañang announced on Wednesday.

Acting presidential spokesperson Martin Andanar said the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on Tuesday approved the acceptance and recognition of the certificates of the three countries "for purposes of arrival quarantine protocols, as well as for interzonal/intrazonal movement."

"This is in addition to other countries/territories/jurisdictions whose proofs of vaccination the IATF has already approved for recognition in the Philippines, and without prejudice to such other proofs of vaccination approved by the IATF for all inbound travelers," Andanar said.

Andanar said the IATF had directed the Bureau of Quarantine, the Department of Transportation - One-Stop-Shop, and the Bureau of Immigration to recognize only the proofs of vaccination so far approved by the IATF.

Other COVID-19 vaccine certificates previously recognized by the Philippine government include that of Armenia, Hong Kong, Samoa, United States, Chile, Syria,  Germany, Oman, Turkey, Ireland, Peru, Estonia, Greece, Portugal, Argentina, Qatar, Australia, Austria, India, United Kingdom, Brunei, Spain, Malta, Bahrain, Iraq, Singapore, Cambodia, Azerbaijan, Uruguay, Belgium, Italy, Slovenia, Vietnam, Macau, Romania, Canada, Japan, Sri Lanka, Brazil, Denmark, British Virgin Islands, Columbia, Kazakhstan, Switzerland, Israel, Ecuador, Egypt, Croatia, Czech Republic, Kuwait, Thailand, Timor Leste, Indonesia, Maldives, France, Monaco, The Netherlands, Republic of Korea, Myanmar, Palau, Georgia, New Zealand, Tunisia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Albania, Croatia, Cyprus and Nepal.  —KBK, GMA News