Iloilo City mayor pushes for quarantine, swab testing for repatriated OFWs
By Tara Yap
ILOILO CITY—Despite the national government’s new policy, Mayor Jerry Treñas of this city wants repatriated overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to undergo mandatory 14-day quarantine and swab testing to make sure that they are not afflicted with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

“On this matter, I insist upon the prerogative to stick with the local health protocols in place—that mandatory swab testing and isolation of the OFWs to be done by the receiving local government unit (LGU),” said Treñas in a letter to the national government’s task force on COVID-19.
The letter, addressed to Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III and Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, made it clear that the Iloilo City government wants to again temporarily stop accepting repatriated OFWs until some issues are resolved.
Treñas reiterated that the city government wants to accept OFWs only after they undergo the 14-day quarantine and subsequent swab test to rule out COVID-19 positive cases, who may mingle with their family members or close friends.
“Despite having tested negative for COVID-19 from their ports of origin, we cannot discount the fact that the repatriated OFWs are not immune from exposure to possible contraction of COVID-19 while they are in transit to their respective LGUs of destination,” Treñas added.