DFA Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. (FILE PHOTO)
MANILA, Philippines — The vaccination cards issued by the Philippine government to overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) will not be honored by Hong Kong authorities, Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. announced on Tuesday.
This may affect about 3,000 stranded OFWs who were set to fly back to their employers as the Hong Kong government is expected to lift the travel ban on the Philippines.
According to Locsin, Philippine–issued vaccination cards do not come from one source, which is why Hong Kong authorities do not honor them.
“Poor OFWs going to their jobs in Hong Kong even if jabbed,” Locsin said in a post on Twitter on Tuesday.
But Locsin expressed optimism that Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Secretary Gregorio Honasan II “will get the job done right” regarding the issuance of vaccination certificates to OFWs.
The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) earlier said it was working on a standardized vaccination digital ID with QR code, as provided under the COVID-19 Vaccination Program Act of 2021.
Currently, local governments in the country issue physical cards to those inoculated against COVID-19.