Over 24,000 quarantined OFWs sent home – Palace

MANILA, Philippines — More than 24,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) have been sent home after staying in different quarantine facilities, Malacañang said Monday.

In a televised Palace press briefing, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said 24,028 repatriated Filipino migrants workers had been released as of May 31.

But figures released by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) showed that over 25,000 have so far been released from quarantine facilities.

DOLE Secretary Silvestre Bello III, in a statement, said that of the number, 10,161 were transported by air; 7,900 traveled by land, and 385 returned by sea. Some 6,576, meanwhile, were fetched by their relatives from their temporary accommodation or turned-over to local government units.

The return of these Filipino repatriates to their home provinces was in line with President Duterte’s order to concerned government agencies to expedite their release from quarantine sites in Metro Manila.

All returning OFWs are required to undergo a 14-day quarantine in different facilities and get tested for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) before they are cleared to return home.

Thousands of OFWs, however, have complained of the slow release of their COVID-19 test results and clearances, which resulted in weeks of an extended stay in quarantine facilities.

DOLE further said that among the Filipino migrant workers who have returned home include around 8,000 seafarers who were stranded in 26 cruise ships in Manila Bay.

Around 200 of these seafarers, however, remain on board as they await their test results, and for safe manning purposes, DOLE added.