Guidelines on returning OFWs sought

MANILA, Philippines — The government task force on the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has ordered concerned agencies to come up with guidelines on returning Filipino migrant workers.

The Department of Foreign Affairs has been repatriating overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) from countries affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has infected 2.6 million people worldwide and more than 6,000 people in the Philippines. 

More than 16,000 OFWs have been repatriated, mostly seafarers. 

“The national task force sub-task group for repatriation of overseas Filipino workers has been directed to come up with protocols for the management and surveillance of repatriated land-based and sea-based OFWs once they return to our country and after the mandated quarantine period,” presidential spokesman Harry Roque said at a press briefing yesterday. 

The government has been implementing precautionary measures for OFWs even before the pandemic task force issued the directive. 

Returning migrant workers have been required to undergo rapid testing for COVID-19. Previously, OFWs were only required to isolate themselves for 14 days in a quarantine facility. 

Nearly 1,000 Filipinos abroad have caught the virus, with more than a hundred deaths.  

Five cruise ships – Voyager of the Seas and the Queen Elizabeth, Sun Princess, Pacific Dawn and Pacific Explorer – with more than 3,500 Filipino seafarers have docked near Sangley Point in Cavite, waiting for the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG)’s signal to dock at Piers 13 and 15 of the Port of Manila.

Job recruitment consultant Manny Geslani said those ships arrived from Australia, Indonesia and Japan this week to disembark their Filipino crews after sailing for several months since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The cruise ships have unloaded all their passengers in different ports and decided to sail to Manila to unload their Filipino crewmen.

The IATF approved the entry of the cruise ships to the Port of Manila last week but up to now the cruise ships are awaiting orders from management if they can proceed to port instead of just sailing around Manila Bay.

The more than 3,500 seafarers are restless and anxious to go home.
The PCG said they will get blood samples from all arriving Filipino workers as part of the rapid test to identify those who are infected with COVID-19.

After the examination and blood extraction the workers would board the PCG buses bound for the quarantine sites provided by the government for their 14-day quarantine.

PCG spokesman Commodore Armand Balilo said they have received reports from hotel managers in Batangas and Manila that some seafarers have allegedly attempted to leave the quarantine hotels and not complete the 14-day quarantine period.