MANILA, Philippines — The national government should immediately address the concerns of overseas Filipinos in Shanghai, China who are affected by the imposed lockdown due to a new surge of COVID-19 cases, according to senatorial candidate and former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Police General Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar.
Food shortage is the primary problem of Filipinos based in Shanghai after the Chinese government placed its most populous city under a strict lockdown in hopes of curbing a new wave of deadly coronavirus infections, which has reached as high as 22,000 new cases daily.
“Base sa mga ulat na natanggap natin, marami sa ating mga kababayan sa Shanghai ang umaasa sa rasyon ng pagkain galling sa gobyerno. Ang problema, hindi umano pantay pantay ang pagdating ng rasyon kaya gutom ang inaabot nila,” Eleazar said.
“Dapat ay umaksyon na ang ating pamahalaan sa pamamagitan ng Department of Foreign Affairs upang mahatiran ng pagkain at iba pang tulong ang ating mga kababayan. Bawat araw na hindi ito nabibigyan ng solusyon ay katumbas ng matimding pasakit sa ating mga kababayan doon,” Eleazar said.
“Mahalaga rin na malaman kung mayroon bang mga Pilipino na nagkasakit na ng COVID-19 sa Shanghai para matutukan ang kanilang pagpapagaling. Walang ibang aasahan ang ating mga kababayan kundi ang ating gobyerno sa gitna ng nagppatuloy na hamon ng pandemya,” he added.
The DFA has reportedly prepared prepaid cards that contain financial assistance for the affected Filipinos in Shanghai. However, the problem is that Philippine authorities cannot hand out the prepaid cards to the Filipinos due to mobility restrictions in Shanghai.
The Chinese government reportedly rejected the DFA’s appeal to allow the Filipinos to get the Philippines’ assistance to them at the Office of the Philippine Consulate General in Shanghai and Philippine Embassy in Beijing.
“Hunger knows no law. Apektado rin pati ang remittances na maipapadala ng mga OFWs sa kanilang pamilya dito sa Pilipinas dahil paniguradong mahihinto o mababawasan ang kanilang suweldo. Kung kailangang i-apela natin sa Chinese Embassy dito sa Pilipinas ang ating kahilingan na payagan ang mga Pilipinong makuha ang tulong na galing sa gobyerno ng Pilipinas, sana ay ilaban ito ng DFA,” Eleazar said.
“Bukod sa pagkain, kailangan ay mayroon ding medical supplies na mai-provide ang gobyerno gaya ng face masks para masiguro ang kaligtasan ng ating mga kababayan sa Shanghai,” he stated.
Now placed under lockdown for one month, Shanghai is battling its worst surge of COVID-19 cases since the onset of the pandemic in China in 2019. Last Sunday (April 17), the Chinese government logged the first three COVID-related deaths in Shanghai in a month. The fatalities were all reportedly unvaccinated individuals aged between 89 to 91.
Meanwhile, Eleazar urged the public to get vaccinated and boosted against COVID-19 as the Department of Health projected that the continuous neglect of the minimum public health standards and the staging of super spreader events could bring the number of active cases to 500,000 by mid-May.
“Huwag natin sayangin ang mga bakuna na pinaghirapang makuha ng ating gobyerno. Magpabakuna na po tayo at magpa-booster shots para lumakas ang ating panlaban laban sa COVID-19,” he said.
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