MANILA – On-the-job training students from Luzon who were stuck in the world-famous Boracay Island in Malay, Aklan during the enhanced community quarantine caused by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) were flown to Manila, according to the Commission on Higher Education (CHED).
CHED said that the Hotel and Restaurant Management students were able to return through sweeper flights organized by the Department of Tourism (DOT).
But due to limited flight availability, however, only 45 out of a total 64 were accommodated.
“The remaining students will stay in Boracay until a flight to their provinces is available and when there is assurance that their respective local governments will allow them to enter their respective province,” CHED added.
Here’s the list of the students from the following colleges/universities who arrived in Manila on May 2:
* 28 from Nueva Ecija University of Science & Technology
* seven from Lorma Colleges, La Union
* six from Nueva Vizcaya State University
* four from Benguet State University
CHED said that from Manila, the transport of the students going back to their respective provinces were organized by their respective schools.
The students from Lorma Colleges are quarantined at a hotel in San Fernando, La Union and are being monitored by their Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, while the students from Benguet State University are observing isolation at their school’s guest house.
“The rest of the students will be directly brought home for the needed 14-day mandatory quarantine,” CHED added.
Meanwhile, the other students in Boracay waiting for their sweeper flights are the following:
* seven from Colegio de Kidapawan
* five from Saint Joseph College of Maasin, Leyte
* four from STI College-Cotabao
* three from the University of Mindanao, Davao City
CHED chairman Prospero de Vera III thanked Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat and DOT in Boracay for working together to help bring the students back to their families.
“We are continuously monitoring the plight of stranded students all over the country and will assure their families that we will do everything to bring them home,” he added.
According to De Vera, the students who have been stranded in other parts of the country due to the pandemic can participate in CHED’s “Survey on Stranded Students in the Philippines during the ECQ” through this link: (https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdDOaEGCCCvlCunoIhlT2dqxV4XsGJs_8_9ZuIzEvq8Mlk11g/viewform) or coordinate with their respective schools for assistance./PN
