Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday is giving the Department of Labour and Employment, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, and the Department of Health one week to let 24,000 overseas Filipino workers waiting in Manila to go home.
The OFWs have completed their 14-day mandatory quarantine in quarantine facilities in Metro Manila after they were repatriated, but they have not yet been allowed to leave since their COVID-19 test results have not yet been released.
Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said Duterte ordered the DOLE, OWWA and DOH to use all resources to ensure the OFWs will be able to go home in a week’s time.
Roque cited Duterte as saying that OFWs should not experience more difficulty in the country after spending years working abroad.
The spokesperson also added that Duterte ordered intensifying the capacity of provinces in conducting PCR-based testing so repatriated OFWs can undergo quarantine in their respective areas of residence.
A number of repatriated OFWs have complained that they have been confined to quarantine facilities beyond the mandatory 14-day isolation period due to the delay in the release of their COVID-19 test results. (Source: INQUIRER.net)