By Bohol Island News Staff | Posted on May 26, 2020 at 11:30 PM
Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) onboard the first sweeper flight to Bohol heaved a sigh of relief after their plane finally made a touchdown at the Bohol Panglao International Airport (BPIA) on Tuesday evening.
An OFW, who requested anonymity, told Bohol Island News that he is among the Boholano OFWs who were happy to finally reach their home province.
“Nalipay ko nga nakauli mi diri balik sa Bohol kay taudtaud sab mi sa Manila. Humanon lang namo ning 14 days quarantine para makauli na sab mi sa among pamilya,” he said.
He along with 126 others was the first batch of repatriated OFWs, who were stranded in Manila, that took a sweeper flight and finally made it home after months of waiting there.
They arrived at 7:30.p.m. at the BPIA from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport onboard a commercial plane.
After they disembarked from the plane, they were asked to register for profiling. They were immediately brought to a resort facility for another set of 14-day quarantine.
The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) said these repatriated OFWs who were sent home from Manila all tested negative for COVID-19.
The OFWs were tested via the swab test or the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), which is the gold standard in detecting COVID-19.
Previous batches underwent a rapid test in Manila, but that yielded conflicting results. They were negative when they left, but tested positive via the RT-PCR when they arrived in the region.
The OFWs also have to undergo another 14-day mandatory quarantine and be tested negative again before they can go back to their respective homes.
Last Monday, President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), OWWA and the Department of Health (DOH) to ensure that all OFWs stuck in quarantine centers beyond the quarantine period are sent home within a week.
He reiterated his call for local government units (LGUs) to accept overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) returning to their homes, saying that only the national government could impose travel restrictions.
“I’m ordering you to accept them, open the gates of your territories and allow the people — and allow the Filipino to travel wherever they want,” Duterte said in a public address late Monday night.
He warned local officials that they could face criminal charges for refusing to accept OFWs after their mandatory, facility-based 14-day mandatory quarantine.
“It is the constitutional right of people to go home — to travel and go home. Do not impede it. Do not obstruct the movement of people because you run the risk of getting sued criminally,” he said. ###
