Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Dir. Rolly Francia clarified on Wednesday afternoon, April 7 that inbound overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) were "exempted" from the United Kingdom's (UK) travel ban.
"Yung pong mga OFWs na papasok ng UK ay hindi po kabilang dito sa ipinagbabawal na makapasok sa UK. So exempted po sila (OFWs that are bound for UK are not included among those prohibited to enter the UK. So they're exempted)," Francia, chief of the Information and Publication Service (IPS), said during a virtual press briefing.
He said the information came from Amy Reyes, the Philippine Labor Attaché in the UK.
Francia, however, said that the UK-bound OFWs must "go through the protocol" of the host country in relation to the persisting coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
"Ibig sabihin pagdating nila doon (It means that once they arrive there), the necessary quarantine period must be observed," the DOLE official said.
The Philippines is set to be added on UK's "red list" on Friday, April 9, a report for the Manchester Evening News said a couple of days ago.
"Anyone who has been in or through any of the destinations listed...in the previous 10 days will be refused entry to the UK," the report read.
The red list will contain at least 39 countries by Friday.