SAN JOSE, Antique – A total of 1,224 sugar migrants in this province who were stranded in Negros Occidental due to travel restrictions amid coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic finally returned home.
Provincial planning and development officer Juliana Cepe said on May 21 that the sugar migrants, or locally known as sacadas, have been allowed to return home after this province shifted to general community quarantine.
“We are still expecting more than 900 residents to arrive in the coming days from Negros Occidental. Antique is expecting a total of 2,223 returnees,” she added.
The sacadas are currently undergoing mandatory 14-day quarantine in the COVID-19 patient care centers set up by their respective local government units.
The first batch, composed of 578 sugar migrants arrived on May 19 while another 646 followed the next day. All of them came home via Dumangas port in Dumangas, Iloilo.
Cepe said the contractors arranged the transport and paid for the fare of the Atiqueño sacadas.
The provincial government, through its Sacada Desk, coordinated with the provincial disaster risk reduction and management office to pick up the sugar migrants, she added.
According to Cepe, the sugar migrants will be receiving financial assistance from the provincial government to sustain their daily needs.
“The local finance committee of the provincial government of Antique is now in the process of preparing the cash assistance that would be given to the sugar migrants,” said Cepe.
Some sacadas might still be contemplating on going back to Negros Occidental when work is available once again, she added.(With a report from PNA/PN)
