With the surge of COVID-19 cases in Hong Kong, a philanthropist has offered P2 million humanitarian assistance to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) for the immediate repatriation of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who have contracted the dreaded disease.
The sudden surge of COVID-19 cases in Hong Kong has overwhelmed its health and quarantine facilities, according to reports.
Philanthropist Dr. James G. Dy, who is also president, and CEO of the Chinese General Hospital and Medical Center (CGHMC), said their humanitarian assistance will be coursed through his organizations: Filipino Chinese General Chamber of Commerce, Inc., (FCGCCI), and the Philippine Chinese Charitable Association, Inc. (PCCAI).
Dy said he asked Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III to contact the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) through the Hong Kong Labor Attache and offered to help.
Saying the nature of OFWs’ jobs makes them highly vulnerable to infection, Dy expressed great concern for their health and welfare while working in Hong Kong.
“I was moved with pity upon learning of the sad plight of our ‘kababayans’ in Hong Kong who were forced to sleep in airport terminals and public parks for the past two nights after employers advised them to go home upon testing positive for COVID-19,” he said in a statement.
Initially, the philanthropist thought of sending Molnupiravir; an oral anti-viral treatment drug for COVID 19 infection, together with doctors and nurses to help take care of the OFWs, but there is no available flight to HK.
Then, he offered to help charter a plane to bring home COVID-afflicted OFWs through the DOLE.
Dy said such is only “a simple token of gratitude to our modern-day Filipino heroes.”
“We wanted to help assure the health and well-being of our OFWs who are working hard for their families and are stranded and sick abroad,” he said.
“These heroes are an important backbone of our economy through their monthly remittances of hard-earned money from abroad. Now is the time to look out for them in their time of need,” Dy added.
The philanthropist assured OFWs that the PCCAI and FCGCCI will be working hand in hand with the responsible government agencies to help them and their families.
As such, Dy offered free medical assistance by sending doctors, medicines, and hygiene kits from the Chinese General Hospital and Medical Center for the repatriated OFWs while sheltered in government quarantine facilities.