Peacekeepers back, sent to Caballo Island

MANILA, Philippines - More than 130 soldiers and police officers back home from United Nations peacekeeping duties in Liberia were headed to an island quarantine last night as a precaution against the Ebola virus.

Although they passed rigid UN Ebola screening before they left the West African nation, they will still spend another 21 days on Caballo Island at the mouth of Manila Bay, the military said.

The troops arrived on a chartered flight at 5 p.m. at Villamor Air Base in Pasay City but were not allowed to meet with relatives. The families applauded as they watched a video of arrival ceremonies inside the Philippine Air Force museum building at Villamor.

Air Force chief Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Delgado and personnel from the AFP Peacekeeping Operations Center and Joint Task Group Liberia welcomed the troops.

“They were told what to expect,” said Maj. Gen. Ronald Genete of the Operations Center. “They were happy to be home.”

At 5:33 p.m., three Air Force buses carried the troops to Sangley Point in Cavite, where a Navy ship was waiting to take them to Caballo Island.

The military said the troops will be housed in air-conditioned tents and provided with cable television and Internet facilities to communicate with families.

Nearly 5,000 people have died from the disease, a majority from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

The Philippines fears its peacekeepers and migrant workers in West Africa make the Southeast Asian nation potentially vulnerable to the disease. The government recalled the troops from Liberia and urged an estimated 1,700 workers in the three worst-hit nations to return home and barred others from going there. – With AP