The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) will no longer allow Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) to overstay in quarantine facilities after receiving complaints on their month-long stay.
The department created a command center to collect all information on the OFWs including the number of those stranded, displaced, in quarantine, and those who tested positive for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
DOLE Secretary Silvestre Bello III explained that the command center is meant to avoid misinformation and hasten acquisition of their health certificates and clearances.
One of the reasons of overstaying is the misinformation that the COVID-19 test result of an OFW has been sent to the wrong quarantine facility.
An estimate of 24,000 OFWs are expected to return to their provinces next week. – Report from Cleizl Pardilla
