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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider DOLE: 25,000 stranded OFWs now home

DOLE: 25,000 stranded OFWs now home

Published Jun 1, 2020 12:00 am
By Leslie Ann Aquino A total of 25,002 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) stranded in different quarantine facilities are now back in their respective hometowns, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) reported on Monday. Philippine overseas workers who were quarantined for weeks after returning home queue up in the departures area as they wait for flights back to their home cities around the country, at Manila's international airport on May 28, 2020. (Photo by Ted ALJIBE / AFP / MANILA BULLETIN) Philippine overseas workers who were quarantined for weeks after returning home queue up in the departures area as they wait for flights back to their home cities around the country, at Manila's international airport on May 28, 2020. (Photo by Ted ALJIBE / AFP / MANILA BULLETIN) Labor Secretary Silvestre H Bello III said of the 25,002 stranded OFWs that have been released from quarantine facilities, 9,595 were transported by air; 7,900 traveled by land, and 385 returned by sea. Some 6,574 OFWs were also fetched by their relatives from their temporary accommodation. "Those who have returned home includes around 8,000 seafarers who were stranded in 26 cruise ships in Manila Bay," said Bello in a statement. "Around 200 of these seafarers, however, remain on board as they await their test results, and for safe manning purposes," he added. The Labor department said it accomplished the ‘hatid probinsiya’ for OFWs exactly one week after President Duterte ordered the immediate release of COVID-19-cleared OFWs. President Duterte earlier ordered the DOLE and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) to send home to their families the estimated 24,000 repatriated OFWs staying in quarantine facilities in one week. All returning OFWs are required to undergo a 14-day quarantine in a government-designated facility, and get tested for COVID-19 before being allowed to return home. Some OFWs, however, complained of the slow release of their results and clearances after weeks and months in quarantine. Bello already apologized to OFWs for this, saying the government did not intend to inconvenience them with their prolonged quarantine and delayed test results.
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