No changes in rules for arriving passengers at PH airports

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 on Tuesday (May 26, 2020). 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. (PNA photo by Avito C. Dalan)

MANILA – An Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) sub-task group clarified Monday that there would be no changes in the existing protocols for arriving passengers at Philippine airports.

In an advisory shared on the Philippine Coast Guard’s Facebook page, the sub-task group announced that all repatriated overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), as well as non-OFWs, are required to undergo quarantine in a government facility or a Bureau of Quarantine (BOQ)-accredited hotel, until they receive their RT-PCR test saying they are negative for coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).

The sub-task group further advised the public to disregard all previous announcements regarding home quarantine protocols for returning Filipinos and OFWs.

Earlier Monday, the sub-task group issued an advisory saying after the swabbing for RT-PCR test, returning Filipinos shall be allowed to go on home quarantine provided that they sign an undertaking that they will strictly follow the protocols on quarantine while in their homes.

It also previously announced that OFWs shall be brought to a government-accredited quarantine facility and wait until the results of their RT-PCR test turns out to be negative.

Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) Public Affairs Department’s officer-in-charge Consuelo Bungag confirmed to the Philippine News Agency that the existing protocol would continue.

“All RT-PCR tests are given for free. OFWs (will be brought to) a government (quarantine) facility. Non-OFWs (could go to a BOQ-accredited) hotel of their choice, she said.