Improved quarantine procedures await 42,000 arriving OFWs

The quarantine procedures for 42,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who will be repatriated this month will be expedited to avoid congestion in isolation facilities in Metro Manila.

Presidential Peace Adviser Carlito Galvez Jr., who is also the chief implementer of the National Action Plan (NAP) on coro

navirus disease (COVID-19), said this will be done without compromising public safety.

"We will use electronic systems to process the repatriation of the OFWs from abroad. To avoid [congestion], we will also use other airports," he said.

Galvez explained that the returning OFWs will stay in Manila or in the airports where they will be arriving for a maximum of five days before being transported to their home provinces.

“We will improve the management of returning OFWs and seafarers.

Their stay in quarantine hotels while waiting for their test results will only be five days or shorter," he said.

"All concerned agencies will coordinate with local government units while waiting and arranging for their return trip to their places," he added.

Last month, it was reported that around 24,000 OFWs were stuck in various quarantine centers in Metro Manila due to the slow release of their medical clearance certificates after undergoing COVID-19 tests.

Some of them stayed in isolation centers for one month, prompting President Duterte to instruct Defense Secretary and NAP Chairman Delfin Lorenzana to expedite the sendoff of 24,000 OFWs to their home provinces.

Lorenzana had said he met with Galvez, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III, and Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Ano to fix the quarantine procedures for repatriated OFWs.

Among the adjustments include limiting the number of arriving OFWs to 1,200 per day, which will eventually increase to 1,500 or 2,000 depending on the easing of the facilities.