24 thousand OFWs sent home to different provinces

CEBU, Philippines — Close to 24,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFW) who were under mandatory quarantine and whose swab or RCT-PCR tests have turned negative will be sent home to their respective provinces starting yesterday, Labor and Employment Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III said.

In a statement, Bello said that, upon the instruction of President Rodrigo Duterte, the composite team of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) will arrange in three days for the daily trips of 8,000 OFWs via the Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange (PITX) and the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

The OFWs need to present their quarantine passes from the Bureau of Quarantine or from the PCG’s negative list from COVID-19 to qualify in the return program.

Starting yesterday, bus trips to Bicol, Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, CAR, and Central Luzon were made available, while flights to Cagayan de Oro, Tacloban, Bacolod, Davao, Cebu, Ilo-ilo and Zamboanga were also arranged until tomorrow.

More bus rides and flights will be made available for the OFWs.

A one-stop shop will be located in the bus and flight sites to ensure the speedy arrangements for this program.

The three-day OFW Return Program is provided to ensure the safe return of those repatriated OFWs under mandatory quarantine to their families and loved ones amid COVID-19. GAN (FREEMAN)