Hotel rooms reserved as quarantine, billeting sites for OFWs, BPO staff

MANILA, Philippines — Nearly 25,000 hotel rooms are reserved for use as quarantine areas for returning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), as well as billeting sites for staff of Business Processing Outsource (BPO) companies, according to the Department of Tourism (DOT) on Wednesday.

Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said the DOT has reserved a total of 24,836 hotel rooms for this effort.

Of this number, 11,549 rooms nationwide were secured to accommodate homebound OFWs who are required to undergo a 14-day quarantine upon their arrival to the country.

Meanwhile, BPO employees are currently billeted at 13,287 hotel rooms located in Metro Manila. Under Administrative Order 2020-001B issued by the Tourism Chief, BPO staff fall under the category of “other guests” who may be accommodated in double occupancy rooms.

In a statement, Puyat said that the DOT expects more hotel rooms to be available as the department continues to encourage private partners to extend hospitality to OFWs and BPO workers.

“The overwhelming show of support of the hotel sector to our government’s call to make their rooms available to OFWs should somehow ease their anxiety, having to wait for another two weeks till they eventually reunite with their families,” she said.

To date, a total of 209 hotels have partnered with the DOT in the effort. Of this number, 160 are located in Metro Manila, which have so far accommodated some 5,289 OFWs who have arrived in the country in the previous days.

The other 49 hotels with 3,343 rooms are located in Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Central Visayas, Eastern Visayas, and Davao Region, where OFWs can be accommodated near their residences. Puyat said additional hotel rooms may be reserved by the government as needed for more returning OFWs.

According to Puyat, the arrangement of these accommodations is a joint effort with the Department of Health and the Department of the Interior and Local Government, in coordination with other agencies under the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases.

She said that costs of the accommodation for OFWs may be shouldered by the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), other national government agencies, recruiting agencies of the OFWs, or the OFWs themselves, as may be applicable.

During the quarantine period, OFWs are confined to single-occupancy, fully-furnished rooms with sanitation and hygiene kits, according to the DOT secretary.

EDV