Travel ban on returning OFWs to Hong Kong, Macao lifted

After a few days, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. recommended the removal of travel restriction on OFWs returning for work in Hong Kong, citing the territory’s facilities to contain the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19). (PNA file photo by Avito Dalan)

MANILA — The Philippine government has lifted the travel restriction on returning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to Hong Kong and Macao, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) announced Tuesday.

DFA Undersecretary Brigido Dulay, in his official Twitter account, said the decision was made by the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID), which held a meeting on Tuesday afternoon.

“Today, DFA (Secretary Teodoro) Locsin’s advocacy has come true. OFWs returning for work in Hong Kong and Macao have been exempted from the outbound travel ban by the IATF-EID, subject to certain procedural formalities,” Dulay wrote.

Earlier this month, President Rodrigo Duterte imposed a ban on Filipinos from traveling to China and its special administrative regions Hong Kong and Macao amid the threat of the Covid-19 outbreak.

After a few days, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. recommended the removal of travel restriction on OFWs returning for work in Hong Kong, citing the territory’s facilities to contain the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).

As of posting, the DFA has yet to release further details on the lifting of the ban.