The Department of Tourism (DOT) on 21 October welcomed the national government's introduction of the e-arrival card as a means to provide a more convenient and stress-free experience for Filipino and foreign travelers arriving in the Philippines.

The e-arrival card stemmed from the DOT's proposal to remove the OHP especially amidst numerous complaints from inbound travelers to the Philippines and to improve the same, benchmarking more convenient arrival protocols in the Southeast Asia such as Singapore. Following the DOT's coordination and discussions with the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID), Department of Health (DOH), Bureau of Quarantine (BoQ), and other member agencies of the IATF, the OHP requirement has now been lifted.

Prior to the adoption of the new e-arrival card, travelers were required to register for the OHP a few days before their travel, and accomplish the electronic Health Declaration Checklist (eHDC) on the day of departure.

Compared to the previous OHP system, the e-arrival card also removes unnecessary information fields, allowing the easier and faster completion of the traveler registration process. For instance, tourism-related fields were significantly cut by half, from 20 items under the OHP to now less than 10 items in the e-arrival card. Fields such as traveler occupation and educational attainment were also removed.

Upon providing their travel details, personal information, health declaration and vaccination details on the e-arrival card website (www.onehealthpass.com.ph), travelers will be issued with a unique QR code.

Travelers must then capture a screenshot of the QR code on their mobile or computer device and present this to BoQ officers at their destination airport in the Philippines. No need for travelers to download and install a mobile app to register, as the e-arrival card is a browser-based system.

In the event that a traveler is unable to complete their e-arrival card, the BoQ has staff stationed at the airport to assist in the travelers' registration. Serving as an important step in the national government's shift towards a paperless system, the e-arrival card will eventually remove the need for travelers to fill up the physical arrival cards done upon their arrival in the Philippines.