ILOILO City – “Nag-scramble.”
This was how Director Ariel Iglesia of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Region 6 described local authorities upon learning that not one but five “sweeper flights” would bring back to Western Visayas yesterday hundreds of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) stranded in Metro Manila for over two months due to the quarantine.
On Sunday night, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) informed local authorities that one airplane from Manila would be flying to the region on Monday some stranded OFWs.
But yesterday morning, OWWA informed them there would four more sweeper flights.
“Nag-scramble kami sa pag-prepare,” Iglesia, a member of Western Visayas’ interagency task force on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), told Panay News yesterday.
It was all so sudden. President Rodrigo Duterte had ordered that all OFWs stuck in quarantine centers in Metro Manila be sent back to their respective provinces, cities and towns within the week.
At around 11:30 a.m., the first Philippine Airlines plane from Manila carrying 130 Western Visayan OFWs landed at the Iloilo Airport in Cabatuan, Iloilo.
The second plane with 145 OFWs touched down past 5 p.m. and a third was scheduled to arrive at around 8 p.m.
In Negros Occidental, the first sweeper flight with 156 OFWs landed at the Bacolod-Silay Airport past 6 p.m. Another one was expected a few hours after.
At the Iloilo Airport, the 130 OFWs from the first sweeper flight were immediately transported to the Iloilo Sports Complex in La Paz, Iloilo City for “segregation.” This was because, according to sources, local authorities were clueless as to the number of the returning overseas workers. They were not given a breakdown by the authorities from Metro Manila.
OWWA tapped huge Ceres buses to transport the OFWs from the airport to the Iloilo Sports Complex.
At the sports complex, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) Region 6, another member of the regional interagency task force, eventually had this breakdown of the OFWs from the first sweeper flight:
* Aklan – 25
* Antique – 15
* Capiz – 19
* Iloilo Province – 57
* Iloilo City – 11
* Guimaras – 3
From the Iloilo Sports Complex, local government units (LGUs) fetched their OFWs for 14 days of quarantine and COVID-19 testing in their respective hometowns or cities.
However, LGUs not yet ready with their quarantine facilities were told to bring their OFWs to the OWWA-designated hotel in Iloilo City for quarantine and testing. OWWA would be shouldering the food and accommodation of these OFWs.
TRAVEL BY SEA
Also yesterday, 687 Western Visayan overseas workers stranded in Metro Manila were finally able to return to the region.
They were the fifth batch (transported by ship) of OFWs allowed to return to Region 6 since April, according to Atty. Roy Villa, spokesperson of the regional interagency task force.
Of these 687 repatriates, 232 were residents of Bacolod City and Negros Occidental while 455 were residents of Panay and Guimaras islands.
They were mostly seafarers, Villa told Panay News.
The ship that transported the overseas workers from Metro Manila, M/V St. Therese Child of Jesus, first docked at the Bredco port in Bacolod City at around 10 a.m. before proceeding to Iloilo City.
They completed 14 days of quarantine and were all tested negative for COVID-19 in reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests done in Metro Manila, said Villa.
Their testing and return to Region 6 were facilitated by the Department of Health (DOH), OWWA, Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) and Philippine Coast Guard (PCG).
LGUs of these repatriated workers fetched them at Bredco Port in Bacolod City and Fort San Pedro in Iloilo City. The workers were to be quarantined in their respective towns and cities and also re-tested as required by the regional COVID task force.
If the LGUs did not have quarantine facilities, Villa said, they should bring their overseas workers to a hotel./PN
