BACOLOD City – The city government would no longer require an additional seven-day home quarantine for repatriated overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and returning overseas Filipinos (ROFs) except for those who traveled to South Africa.
“For OFWs and ROFs not coming from Africa, they just need to complete the required 14-day quarantine upon arrival,” said Councilor Israel Salanga, chairperson of the city’s Action Team on Returning OFWs (ATRO).
“If halin sa South Africa, ma-extend gihapon (quarantine),” he added, saying this is to pre-empt the spread of the South African coronavirus variant.
OFWs and ROFs are quarantined upon reaching Manila and are required to undergo swabbing on the fifth day. Once they yield a negative result on the sixth day, those identified by the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) will be scheduled to board a sweeper flight.
“And assuming on the seventh day sa Bacolod na kamo, pasugat kamo sa family nyo sa airport and complete the remaining seven days sa balay nyo,” Salanga added.
“As soon as complete na 14 days nyo including Day 1 sa Pinas and wala man lang nag-manifest ang symptoms, solve na,” he stressed.
An OFW is a member of the OWWA or a worker abroad registered under the agencies in the country.
An ROF, meanwhile, is a non-member of the OWWA, including balikbayans, tourists, those married to foreigners, migrants, among others.
Salanga added that ROFs still need to secure a notice of coordination/letter of acceptance from his office, but OFWs are no longer required to obtain such.
Earlier, the ATRO head announced that non-essential travelers have already been allowed entry to Bacolod starting March 3.
Non-essential travel includes leisure or vacation, visiting friends or families, and attending weddings and christenings as well as other travels with a purpose not for basic needs.
When entering Bacolod, the non-essential traveler is required to make an itinerary for the duration of stay in the city, download or register for BaCTrac contact tracing ID, and sign the online health declaration form.
The traveler also needs to undergo a reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction test and should have a negative result three days before travel.(PNA/PN)
