Duterte ordered senators Richard Durbin and Patrick Leahy banned from visiting the Philippines and warned he may introduce new visa restrictions on American tourists.
Americans can currently visit the Philippines visa-free for up to 30 days. U.S. tourists currently represent almost 13 percent of all foreign arrivals, Reuters said, with 792,000 citizens traveling to the country in the first nine months of 2019.
The measure bans the entry of"foreign government officials involved in the wrongful imprisonment... of Senator Leila de Lima, who was arrested in the Philippines in 2017." "We reiterate that the Philippines—and we address this to the senators specifically named as well as those who approved the provision—that we the Philippines is an independent and sovereign state and it stands in parity with other states, including the United States," Panelo continued, according to CNN.
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