I'm not quite sure, I was on leave and not directly involved, but I know that all sorts of options were tried over several weeks, and they ended up with this. At one point chartering an aircraft was even considered, but that would only have worked if they could have found enough stranded Filipinos and Filipinas to fill the plane.

What I do know is that they qualified for an abbreviated quarantine for arrivals from "yellow" countries: six days at a quarantine facility (usually a luxury hotel), a PCR on the fifth day, followed by 8 days at home if the test comes back negative. They all did, so everybody is home for Christmas. Silver lining! (And I'm told that home quarantine is never checked or enforced).

That entry cap is apparently based on quarantine capacity, each port of entry has its own. We have flown people to Cebu and quarantined them there when Manila hit its cap.

Johan