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4K Filipino crew members to arrive in PH amid Covid-19 crisis
4,000+ repatriated Filipino crew in the next 3 weeks. 530 from Costa Fabulosa & Costa Magica arrive tomorrow and there are no hotels or motels to book them in. While DOT has a list of accommodations the OWWA of DOLE must approve the items in the list; however OWWA says…
— Teddy Locsin Jr. (@teddyboylocsin) March 28, 2020
…it cannot approve the DOT list unless the DOH first approves the list. The DOH says that the rooms must qualify as individual isolation wards with room service so there is no mingling just in case some are COVID. It was suggested that DOH test the incoming crews but…
— Teddy Locsin Jr. (@teddyboylocsin) March 28, 2020
…an undersecretary of DOH said NO. No? Yes, no. So no texting of incoming Filipino crews. And yet they are not to be given accommodations on the off chance they are COVID. So where do they go? The streets? Yes. Meanwhile OWWA gave the cruise ship owners a cellphone# …
— Teddy Locsin Jr. (@teddyboylocsin) March 28, 2020
…and an email address. But do not answer. Apparently the guy with the cellphone and the email is unable to respond. Why? COVID19? And yet OWWA is due to received a humongous amount for just such a service. Meanwhile returning poor students are hoping for ATN funds from DFA…
— Teddy Locsin Jr. (@teddyboylocsin) March 28, 2020
… I will give it. I don't give 2 f*&#s.
— Teddy Locsin Jr. (@teddyboylocsin) March 28, 2020
MANILA – Over 4,000 Filipinos are set to arrive home in the next three weeks as cruise lines bear the brunt coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) crisis.
“4000+ repatriated Filipino crew to arrive in the next three weeks. 530 from Costa (Favolosa) and Costa Magica arrive tomorrow,” Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin, Jr. said Saturday in a tweet.
He, however, noted concerns on the scheduled repatriation with the need to quarantine the arriving Filipinos and the number of available facilities to accommodate them.
In a series of tweets, Locsin said “while DOT (Department of Tourism) has a list of accommodations, the OWWA (Overseas Workers Welfare Administration) of DOLE (Department of Labor and Employment) must approve the items in the list; however, OWWA says it cannot approve the DOT list unless the DOH first approves the list. The DOH says that the rooms must qualify as individual isolation wards with room service so there is no mingling just in case some are Covid.”
Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Eduardo Menez said the New Clark City “still has the Grand Princess crew” who are currently under quarantine after their arrival in the Philippines on March 16.
“There is a selection and clearing process that is overseen by the DOH (Department of Health) in coordination with the manning agency. There are several considerations taken into account,” he noted.
Meanwhile, the DOT said it will assist the OWWA in finding accommodations for repatriated overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), citing that “distressed OFWs” is qualified to be billeted by hotels and similar establishments operating during the enhanced community quarantine.
The said establishments, however, must abide by the conditions for room occupancy, as coordinated with the DOH and approved by the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID), which directs that “OFWs and Health Workers shall be accommodated in single occupancy rooms. Only one person shall be accommodated in each room”.
