MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Foreign Affairs said that a total of 19,466 overseas Filipino workers have been repatriated back to the Philippines as of today, with thousands more still to be evacuated due to the global coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
“Bumuhos lang naman 'to noong nag-umpisa itong ating mga ECQ. So sa loob lamang ng ilang linggo, isang buwan, ay mayroon nang pumasok sa atin na 19,000 na OFW,” Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Brigido Dulay said during the Saturday morning “Laging Handa” virtual briefing.
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(The repatriations only peaked when the country’s enhanced community quarantines began. So within the course of a few weeks, one month, there were 19,000 OFWs who returned.)
Seafarers comprise most of the repatriates, with a total of 15,130 workers coming from 75 cruise ships. The remainder are 4,336 land-based OFWs.
"Marami pang parating...In the next few days, uuwi pa ang libu-libo nating kababayan galing sa ibang bansa (Many more are expected to return...In the next few days, thousands of our countrymen will come home from other countries),” Dulay said.
The DFA official said that for this purpose, the “Sub-Task Group on the Repatriation of OFWs” was formed within the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases.
The task group is chaired by the Department of Transportation and co-chaired by the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration.
“Sila po ang nagsasabi at nagbibigay po ng protocol kung saan po ilalagay na quarantine facility 'yung ating OFWs sa pagkat nagkaroon na po ng desisyon ang Task Force na lahat po ng uuwi na mga OFW ay kailangan pong sumailalim sa 14-day quarantine,” Dulay said.
(They determine and provide the protocol on which quarantine facility the OFWs will be placed since the Task Force decided that all repatriated OFWs need to undergo a 14-day quarantine.)
Under current protocols, seafarers who have already completed a two-week quarantine period aboard their respective cruise ship — which has been determined clean and free from coronavirus infection — would not have to undergo quarantine upon returning to the Philippines.
“Pasahero man o crew member, ito po ay pwede nang maging 14-day quarantine nila sa laot. Para pagdating po dito, pwede na po silang tumuloy sa kanilang mga probinsya at bahay.”
(Passenger or crew member, your 14-day quarantine on the ship will suffice. So when you arrive in the Philippines, you can go straight to your provinces and homes.)
Land-based OFWs, on the other hand, would be quarantined upon return.
Dulay assured stakeholders that the overseas workers will be brought to one of “many” quarantine facilities, citing hotels, the World Trade Center and 2Go ships.
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A total of 1,185 Filipinos abroad have tested positive for the coronavirus disease, the DFA reported Friday.
Around 300,000 to 400,000 OFWs are projected to lose their jobs due to the expected shutdown of offices abroad brought about by the pandemic, according to a research by Ateneo de Manila University.
This will result to a decline of cash remittances from OFWs by roughly 10 to 20% or between $3 billion to $6 billion this year due to the crises caused by the pandemic that resulted in falling oil prices in the Middle East. — with reports from Christina Mendez, Mayen Jaymalin and Pia Lee-Brago