By Chito Chavez
Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo Año on May 26, Tuesday, assured the public that overseas Filipino workers (OFW) returning to their home provinces are novel coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) free after being subjected real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests.
DILG Secretary Eduardo M. Año (DILG / MANILA BULLETIN)
Reiterating his assurance, Año emphasized that the government will make sure that all returning OFWs have been PCR tested with negative COVID-19 results.
In a news briefing, Año warned that LGUs, even COVID-19-free localities cannot lawfully order the OFWs out of the mainland and limit their stay only at their piers.
Earlier, the League of Provinces of the Philippines (LPP) said the returning OFWs must still undergo quarantine and be subjected for COVID-19 testing once they arrive in their home province.
Marinduque Governor Presbitero Velasco, LPP president, noted that most of the provincial governments want the returning OFWs to undergo quarantine either in a designated facility or at their respective homes.
In his public address on May 25, President Duterte gave the concerned government agencies one week to bring a total of 24,000 OFWs back to their home provinces.
Most of the OFWs have been stranded in the quarantine facilities in Metro Manila for more than a month.
DILG Secretary Eduardo M. Año (DILG / MANILA BULLETIN)
Reiterating his assurance, Año emphasized that the government will make sure that all returning OFWs have been PCR tested with negative COVID-19 results.
In a news briefing, Año warned that LGUs, even COVID-19-free localities cannot lawfully order the OFWs out of the mainland and limit their stay only at their piers.
Earlier, the League of Provinces of the Philippines (LPP) said the returning OFWs must still undergo quarantine and be subjected for COVID-19 testing once they arrive in their home province.
Marinduque Governor Presbitero Velasco, LPP president, noted that most of the provincial governments want the returning OFWs to undergo quarantine either in a designated facility or at their respective homes.
In his public address on May 25, President Duterte gave the concerned government agencies one week to bring a total of 24,000 OFWs back to their home provinces.
Most of the OFWs have been stranded in the quarantine facilities in Metro Manila for more than a month.