MALACAÑANG

Manila

LETTER OF INSTRUCTION NO. 911

TO:
The Minister for Foreign Affairs

 
The Minister of Tourism

 
The Commissioner on Immigration and Deportation

In the light of policy considerations and in order to effect an acceptable solution to the problem of individuals who are holders of Hongkong British or Macao Portuguese passports or Certificates of Identity (CI) traveling to the Philippines either for business or for pleasure, you are hereby directed to implement the following:

1. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs through its consulates abroad, and the Commission on Immigration and Deportation will henceforth process and authorize the entry of Hongkong British and Macao Portuguese passports or Certificates of Identity holders in accordance with the following guidelines:

a. Holders of Hongkong British passports who are traveling individually or in tour groups, their accompanying spouses and minor children whose names and pictures are included in a collective passport, shall be allowed a non-visa entry for seven (7) days. This initial period of stay may be extended by the CID on valid grounds for another period of not more than seven (7) days.

b. Holders of Macao Portuguese passports who are traveling individually or in tour groups, their accompanying spouses and minor children whose names and pictures are included in a collective passport, shall secure the appropriate visa for entry to the Philippines for a stay of not more than fourteen (14) days without extension and subject to screening by Philippine consulates.

c. Only holders of passports or Certificates of Identity (CI) shall be issued a group visa for a stay of not more than fourteen (14) days without extension provided that the handling Philippine tour operator will execute a written guarantee for the prompt departure, as stipulated in the guarantee, of every member of each group tour.

d. Holders of Certificates of Identity (CI), and their accompanying spouses and dependent children, fully established as such, are eligible for tourist visa on individual basis for a stay of not more than fourteen (14) days without extension, and subject to screening by Philippine consulates.

e. No change of status from what is authorized for their entry to the Philippines shall be processed or allowed for any holders of Hongkong British or Macao Portuguese passports or Certificates of Identity.

2. The Minister of Tourism is hereby directed to strictly monitor and enforce compliance with the letters of guarantee required of the Philippine tour agency and to cancel the license of such agency which shall violate the same.

3. The Commission on Immigration and Deportation in coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Tourism is hereby directed to adopt a system of monitoring and recording the arrival and departure of holders of Hongkong British or Macao Portuguese passport or CI, whether in tour groups or as individuals and must furnish the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Tourism and the National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) a monthly report listing any and all such persons who overstay in violation of the conditions and period authorized for their entry to the Philippines, including the handling local travel agencies.

For strict compliance.

Done in the City of Manila, this 10th day of August, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and seventy-nine.

(SGD.) FERDINAND E. MARCOS

President of the Philippines

Source: CDAsia