Senators on Thursday, March 18, questioned the government's decision to impose a daily cap of 1,500 on the arrival of returning overseas Filipinos workers (OFWs).

In a hearing of Senate labor committee, Senator Joel Villanueva raised the temporary travel ban imposed by the National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19 on foreigners and non-OFWs as a solution to the uptick of COVID-19 cases in the Philippines.

The same order, effective March 20 to April 19, also limits the number of inbound passengers to 1,500 a day.

Villanueva recalled that the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), a day before the issuance of the NTF order, also announced a 1,500 daily cap on passenger arrivals at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, without qualifications, to be enforced starting March 18, until April 19.

"I really don't agree with this, because in other countries, if they have a good quarantine program, contact tracing, I think hindi kailangan, eh (it's not necessary)," the Senate labor committee chairman said before resuming their discussion on the proposed Department of Overseas Filipinos (DOFIL).

Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) officials said there is "no conflict" with the two pronouncements, although the implementation of the travel ban, as the NTF memorandum stated, should start March 20 and not March 18.

DFA Assistant Secretary Enrico Fos also clarified that the cap applies to every airport of the country and not only in the NAIA.

"There are existing cap din po (also) in other airports, for example, I was just told this morning that there is a 1,500 cap for Clark, and another cap for Cebu, for that matter. The controls for inbound passengers are currently existing in all gateways," he told the Senate panel.

When asked on the basis of the 1,500 daily cap, Overseas Workers' Welfare Administration (OWWA) head Hans Cacdac failed to specificy how the NTF came up with the figure, but said this was "based on the data from the DOH (Department of Health) with regards to rising instances of COVID-19 cases coming from abroad."

Cacdac added that the OWWA had shared to the NTF that the number of OFWs in quarantine facilities at present were already reaching the 11,000-mark, "which could be compared to same figures we had when we had an overflow last April, May of 2020."

"We will go by what is stated in the memorandum, which the clearly-established basis, we cannot argue with the experts on health, we go by the science, and therefore, we abide by the memorandum from Sec. Lorenza," he told the senators.

'Ineffective' 

Still, Villanueva was not convinced with its necessity. "Parang inaamin natin na it is not working, 'yong quarantine program po natin, testing na ginagawa natin, contact tracing natin (It's like we are admitting that our quarantine program is not working, our testing, and contact tracing efforts). Is that an admission?"

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon agreed with Villanueva's observations, saying: "You know, 365 days after COVID-19 came to us, our policies are still confusing and as you just pointed out, Mr. Chair, the validity and the basis are not clear."

"That is why people tend not to follow directives, because hindi po naiinitindihan (they do not understand)," he pointed out.

"If this is a system of making sure that we control the entry of those who may have COVID, they will just choose the other airport...wala rin (it's no use). So it's also ineffective."

"This is, to our mind, erroneous, and prejudices our OFWs," Drilon, a former labor secretary, said.

Even administration Senator Francis Tolentino said he was also "alarmed" with the travel cap.

"Because I foresee the unenforceability of this. How would you determine which airline should have a cap of 1,500 Filipinos? Which stopover should enforce a disembarkation of Filipinos? Which port of departure should prevent a valid ticket holder of a trip going to Manila?"

"I really can't imagine a situation where we will be forcing planes to return to their port of departure just because there are Filipinos because we have reached the 1,500 cap. Parang napakahirap (It would be very difficult)," he said.

Tolentino urged the NTF and the DFA to revisit the order.

"Super-spreaders, the ones carrying and diffusing the virus, so to speak, are not just those coming in, they're within us," he also said.

Cacdac said the IATF is set to meet Monday to discuss the travel cap.