Gordon urges IATF to open more airports for OFW repatriation amid pandemic

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Richard Gordon has asked the government’s COVID-19 task force to open up more airports to allow more passenger flights carrying Filipino migrant workers to come in.

In a statement on Monday, Gordon said he had written a letter to the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) proposing the opening of airports in Clark, Subic and Mactan to accommodate more flights carrying overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

The senator took note in his statement of the hundreds of OFWs in the United Arab Emirates who have been displaced by the pandemic and have been stranded there for months.

While acknowledging the need for the government to impose a limitation of 400 incoming passengers per day at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) as a precaution, Gordon pointed out that the predicament of the OFWs should also be taken into consideration.

“I’m aware that we have to take precautions, but I think it would not be a problem if we allow more flights to come in and distribute them to other airports such as Clark, Subic, and Mactan,” Gordon, chair of the Philippine Red Cross (PRC), said in a letter to Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., chief implementor of the National Task Force Against COVID-19, and his deputy Vince Dizon.

Dizon also leads the Bases Conversion and Development Authority as CEO and president.

The senator further assured that diverting flights to the airports in Clark, Subic and Mactan would pose little risk to efforts to contain the spread of the coronavirus, saying that Red Cross testing centers would be operating in those areas.

“I’m sure your prompt action would be greatly appreciated by our kababayans in the Middle East whose suffering would be alleviated because they will be able to come home to their families,” Gordon’s letter read.

“It must be very hard, being stranded and jobless in a foreign land, far away from your loved ones and unsure of where to get money for your next meal and other daily needs. I have also received emails pleading for help about their situation,” he added.

Authorities have started allowing inbound international chartered and commercial flights to land at Manila’s main airport on May 11 with the imposition of a 400-passenger cap per day.

These passengers will be subjected to polymerase chain reaction testing for COVID-19  and will undergo a 14-day mandatory facility-based quarantine.

As of Monday afternoon, Philippine health officials have confirmed 12,718 COVID-19 cases in the country. Of the number 2,729 have recovered while 831 have died.

/atm