Hontiveros condemns alleged faster release of Chinese nationals’ COVID-19 test results than OFWs’

FILE: ASSISTING OFWs. Personnel from the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) assist overseas Filipino workers heading home to their respective provinces during a send-off at the departure area of Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 2. The Department of Labor and Employment vowed to send home 24,000 OFWs who were stuck in quarantine centers in Metro Manila within the next three days.

“Hindi tayo 2nd-class citizens sa sarili nating bansa (We are not second-class citizens in our own country).”

This was Senator Risa Hontivero’s reaction after it was reported that Chinese people have allegedly received results of their coronavirus tests earlier than overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

“Four days lang nakuha agad ng mga Chinese workers sa Fontana ang COVID-19 results nila; habang marami sa mga OFWs natin ay mahigit isang buwan naka-quarantine dahil wala pa ang sa kanila (Chinese workers in Fontana got their COVID-19 results in just four days, while more OFWs have been in quarantine for more than a month because they have not gotten theirs),” she said in a statement on Thursday, May 28.

“Hindi tama ito (This is not right),” she added.

Rappler earlier reported that there were thousands of OFWs waiting every day for the updated list of negative results for COVID-19, only to find Chinese-sounding names on it last May 25.

A Filipino migrant worker told the news outlet that their test results have yet to be released even though some of them were tested since the first week of May, while others have been staying in a quarantine facility for two months already.

The same situation was also shared by Kapuso reporter Raffy Tima on Twitter, saying that he received a screenshot of the list of Filipino repatriates who tested negative for the virus from an OFW who is in quarantine in a hotel in Manila. The reporter said the OFW was not able to find his name on the list, but he instead found a number of Chinese names on it.

An OFW still stuck in quarantine in a hotel in Manila sent me this screen grab of the list of OFW repatriates who have tested negative for Covid19. His name is not on the list but a number of Chinese sounding names are listed. He was tested 3 WEEKS ago. His question, “OFW sila?” pic.twitter.com/29RzLRREL9

— Raffy Tima (@raffytima) May 27, 2020

Speaking with Rappler, Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) commandant Admiral Joel Garcia said the Chinese nationals on the list were part of the 490 people at Fontana Leisure Park in Clark Freeport who were tested for the novel coronavirus last May 21.

Garcia explained that the Philippine Red Cross (PRC), which relayed them the test results, “did not distinguish between OFWs and the Chinese workers from Fontana, who were inadvertently included in their report.” He also clarified that the Chinese workers are not receiving special treatment.

The lawmaker called on the PCG, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), and the Department of Health (DOH) to fix the bottleneck so that OFWs can return to their homes immediately.

“This is not how we welcome OFWs back home. Let’s address these backlogs so that we can send them back to their loved ones,” Hontiveros said.

The OWWA on Wednesday reported that some 7,500 repatriated OFWs were finally sent back to their hometowns, a few days after President Rodrigo Duterte gave the agency, the DOH, and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) a week to bring 24,000 Filipino migrant workers, who were waiting for their COVID-19 results in quarantine facilities, back to their respective provinces.

The Chief Executive, meanwhile, warned local government units (LGUs) to accept the OFWs returning to their homes or they could face criminal charges. Duterte stressed that it is only the national government that can impose travel restrictions due to a national emergency.

“It is the constitutional right of people to go home — to travel and go home. Do not impede it. Do not obstruct the movement of people because you run the risk of getting sued criminally,” he said.

[READ: Duterte to LGUs: Only nat’l gov’t can impose travel restrictions]