Oriental Mindoro releases more detailed rules for returning OFWs

CITY OF CALAPAN –– Oriental Mindoro Governor Humerlito Dolor on Saturday signed the amendments to an Executive Order (EO) he issued earlier to give more detailed rules for returning Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) to the province.

The four-page advisory was drafted by the Ad Hoc Committee on Returning OFWs formed by the provincial government to comply with the Inter-Agency Task Force on permission for returning OFWs.

It amends EO No. 29, which restricts the movement of people and goods to prevent the spread of SARS-CoV2 that causes coronavirus disease in the province.

The advisory, addressed to mayors, village officials, local government unit department heads, police, Coast Guard, Philippine Ports Authority, and various shipping lines, covers those who arrived in the Philippines from March 14 when the province went on voluntary community quarantine.

The advisory states that only returning OFWs who arrived in the Philippines on March 14 onwards are allowed to enter the province, and they would be subjected to health checking, profiling, and 14-day quarantine.

They would be subjected to a mandatory 7-day quarantine at their respective points of entry.

Their food inside the quarantine areas shall be shouldered (one meal each) by the provincial government, by the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration and by the city/municipal government of their residence or by their relatives.

“Those passing through Oriental Mindoro on their way to their home provinces shall be allowed to enter the province if with their respective vehicles,” the advisory says.

Those who are merely passing through the province shall continuously travel through the Oriental Mindoro Food Corridor until their respective points of exit.

Their vehicles shall be disinfected by the Provincial Health Office before leaving their points of entry.

They are not allowed to make unnecessary stop/s, unless under extreme emergencies. They shall be escorted by provincial government vehicles until reaching their points of exit.

“OFWs who shall divert from Oriental Mindoro Food Corridor, or shall make unnecessary stop/s, shall be arrested by the PNP, charged for Violation of RA 11332, and their vehicles impounded,” the advisory further stated.

“Then they shall be taken by trained Provincial Health Office personnel, and assisted by the PNP, to the provincial Isolation Area, where they shall undergo mandatory 14-day quarantine at their expense.”

LZB