Over 14,000 OFWs cleared to go home

HE Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on Thursday, May 21, announced that 14,669 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in various quarantine centers have tested negative for the novel coronavirus and have been issued a quarantine clearance.

The PCG released the list of OFWs as well as the downloadable copies of their quarantine clearance at https:/ / bit.ly/ 36i1XiZ.

“Kung makikita ang iyong pangalan, i-download ang quarantine clearance at ipakita sa PCG security personnel para ma-clear ang pag-uwi sa inyong probinsya/ lungsod,” the PCG instructed.

(If your name is on the list, download the quarantine clearance and present to the PCG security personnel so you can go home to your province or city or town.)

As of Thursday noon, 41 OFWs who have been cleared were on their way to board a 2GO vessel that will bring them home to the Visayas and Mindanao.

The PCG released the list of cleared OFWs less than 36 hours after National Task

Force Against Covid-19 chief implementer Carlito Galvez Jr. and Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III separately assured that repatriates found negative for the virus would be sent home.

Several OFWs have complained that they have been in quarantine for more than the required 14 days because the results of their RT-PCR tests have not been released.

RT-PCR tests, or reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction tests, are conducted using nose and throat swab samples to detect the novel coronavirus, or SarsCoV-2, which causes the coronavirus disease (Covid19) .

Those who have been cleared to go home may also download or take a screenshot of their RT-PCR test results, in case their local government unit requires a copy.

The PCG over the weekend admitted that some of the OFWs who “escaped” from their quarantine facilities have been found positive for the virus.

Bello on Wednesday, May 20, said they were working for the release of about 16,000 OFWs in quarantine to decongest the facilities and prepare for the arrival of around 43,000 OFWs who have also lost their jobs due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

OFWs and other international arrivals are required to stay in quarantine for 14 days, the incubation period for Covid-19, before they can go home.

They are also subjected to RT-PCR testing by the Philippine Red Cross.

An OFW is cleared to go home only after his test yields a negative result and he has completed the 14-day quarantine. ---(MVI/ SunStar Philippines)

EMPLOYERS are allowed to defer payment of the holiday pay on May 25, 2020 in view of the existence of a national emergency arising from the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) situation, said the Labor department.

President Rodrigo Duterte earlier declared May 25, 2020 as regular holiday in observance of Eid'l Fitr (Feast of Ramadhan). Employers are usually mandated to pay their employees holiday premium on regular holidays.

But in an advisory issued May 20, 2020, Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Secretary Silvestre Bello III said deferment of payment of holiday pay on May 25 is allowed "until such time that the present emergency situation has been abated and the normal operations of the establishment is in place."

DOLE also exempted from the payment of the holiday pay establishments that have totally closed or ceased operation during the community quarantine period.

Provinces, towns and cities in the Philippines have been placed under community quarantine as a measure to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus that causes Covid-19.

In the same advisory, however, DOLE still reminded employers of the rules for pay on regular holidays.

Pursuant to Proclamation 944 issued by Duterte, the following rules for pay on regular holidays shall apply on May 25:

* If the employee did not work, he or she shall be paid 100 percent of his or her wage for that day, subject to certain requirements under the implementing rules and regulations of the Labor Code, as amended.

* For work done during the regular holiday, the employee shall be paid 200 percent of his or her wage for that day for the first eight hours.

* For work done in excess of eight hours (overtime work), he or she shall be paid an additional 30 percent of his or her hourly rate on said day.

* For work done during a regular holiday that also falls on his or her rest day, he or she shall be paid an additional 30 percent of his or her basic wage of 200 percent.

* For work done in excess of eight hours (overtime work) during a regular holiday that also falls on his or her rest day, he or she shall be paid an additional 30 percent of his or her hourly rate on said day.

---(LMY/ SunStar Philippines)