PR
Local government units (LGUs) all over the country have been directed to allow overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) that have completed their 14-day quarantines, or may be required to undergo mandatory home quarantines, to pass through their areas so they can go home.
This according to Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases spokesperson Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles, who on Sunday said that IATF Resolution No. 22 directs LGUs to ensure the “unhampered transit of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) who have been issued certificates of completion of fourteen (14)-day quarantine, or those who may be required to undergo mandatory 14-day home quarantine.”
The Palace official stressed that “all LGUs are enjoined to allow the docking of maritime vessels in their ports, as well as to allow the disembarkation and transit of the aforementioned OFWs to their ultimate destination in the country.”
“Ito po ang mensahe po ng IATF sa LGU sa buong bansa: pauwiin nyo po ang mga OFW natin at payagan nyo po ang pagdaong ng mga barko para makauwi sila sa kanilang mga bayan.”
Nograles pointed out that many OFWs have travelled thousands of miles to come home to the Philippines and just wanted to go to their hometowns.
“Sila po ay binibigyan ng sertipikasyon bilang patunay na tapos na ang kanilang quarantine. Libu-libong milya ang kanilang tinahak para makauwi,” said the former lawmaker from Davao.
Nograles explained that repatriated OFWs undergo numerous protocols before coming to the Philippines to ensure that they do not pose a threat to other people.
“Ang daming protocol po na sinusundan para po makabalik sila sa bansa. Kaya pauwiin nyo na po sila. Hindi po sila banta sa kalusugan ng inyong mga bayan.”
