200 fishers stranded in Occidental Mindoro set to come home to Palawan

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY — Some 200 fishermen from Palawan currently stranded in Occidental Mindoro, a province with three confirmed COVID-19 cases, were set to arrive in Puerto Princesa City.

Severino Destura, station commander of Philippine Coast Guard (PCG)-Puerto Princesa City, said Sunday that the local fishermen aboard some 13 sea vessels were being coordinated for their return to the province.

Destura said the vessels will travel from Sablayan town to transport the fishermen back home to Bagong Sikat and Bagong Silang villages.

Destura said that the coordinated return of the stranded fisherfolks by the local government units (LGU) was a strategic move; otherwise, they may find ways of their own to go home which may overlook the quarantine protocols.

The stranded local fishermen were under quarantine pending clearance from the PCG Occidental Mindoro. However, the exact date for their voyage home is still to be set.

“They were quarantine [in Mindoro], they weren’t permitted to leave [their boats]. Initial report said they were 200 plus of them but we are going to base on the report from our counterpart regarding how many will leave Mindoro so we know how many to expect here,” he added.

Upon their arrival, they will also be subjected to a mandatory 14-day quarantine. PCG-PPC has yet to clarify their quarantine facility, but the initial plan is to have them remain aboard their boats and not be allowed to disembark as they wait for their quarantine period to lapse.