{"id":253905,"date":"2020-05-04T23:56:46","date_gmt":"2020-05-05T03:56:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=253905"},"modified":"2020-05-04T23:56:46","modified_gmt":"2020-05-05T03:56:46","slug":"duterte-to-lgus-accept-returning-ofws-cleared-in-quarantine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2020\/05\/04\/duterte-to-lgus-accept-returning-ofws-cleared-in-quarantine\/","title":{"rendered":"Duterte to LGUs: Accept returning OFWs cleared in quarantine"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
President Rodrigo Roa Duterte updates the nation on the government’s efforts in addressing the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at the Malago Clubhouse in Malaca\u00f1ang on May 4, 2020. TOTO LOZANO\/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA\u00a0<\/strong>\u2013 President Rodrigo Duterte urged local government units (LGUs) to accept returning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who have been cleared after undergoing mandatory 14-day facility-based quarantine to rule out coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).<\/p>\n

In a televised public address aired late Monday night, Duterte told LGU officials to find out whether returning OFWs from their localities were \u201cnot a threat to the community\u201d before being allowed to return to their homes.<\/p>\n

Duterte also warned LGUs against discriminating against OFWs who are already cleared of Covid-19 infection by barring them from returning to their own homes for fear that their communities would catch the virus.<\/p>\n

\u201cMakinig kayong<\/em>\u00a0(Listen, you) local executives — the national government will insist that you accept the OFW.\u00a0Magkakaroon ho tayo ng problema<\/em>\u00a0(We will have a problem) if you resist because then as a worker of government, it falls upon my shoulders to see to it that everything is done fair,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He made this warning after the travel of 100 OFWs to Iloilo province scheduled last month got canceled.<\/p>\n

Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor Jr. gathered the signature of the local chief executives asking the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) not to allow the flight.<\/p>\n

Defensor and the local chief executives in the province were concerned that the return of the OFWs increases the risk of the spread of Covid-19, after one of the first batch of OFWs, who initially returned to Iloilo tested positive for Covid-19.<\/p>\n

\u201cI heard also, I\u2019m sure\u00a0sa<\/em>\u00a0(in the) City of Iloilo,\u00a0hindi ninyo tinanggap \u2018yung mga<\/em>\u00a0OFW (you didn\u2019t accept the OFWs),\u201d Duterte said.<\/p>\n

He urged Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Tre\u00f1as to follow the guidelines crafted by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID), otherwise, the national government will \u201cimpose it\u201d on him.<\/p>\n

\u201cSir, Mayor,\u00a0nakikiusap ako sa inyo na sundin lang ninyo \u2018yung<\/em>\u00a0(I appeal to you to just follow the) guidelines. I will operate through the DILG (Department of the Interior and Local Government).\u00a0Kasi<\/em>\u00a0(Because) it\u2019s either\u00a0sumunod kayo<\/em>\u00a0(you follow them) or I will impose it on you.\u00a0Sumunod kayo sa magandang paraan o pipilitin ko na sumunod kayo<\/em>\u00a0(Just follow in a good way or else I will force you to follow the guidelines),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Duterte, however, expressed hope that the issue in Iloilo has been resolved by now.<\/p>\n

He said it was not right for OFWs to be driven away when their remittances are \u201cone of the pillars of the country\u2019s economy\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cImportante lang<\/em>\u00a0(It\u2019s just important) that the returning workers, our brothers, and sisters, who have labored abroad, to give us also their share of their income…\u00a0Kaya ‘yang<\/em>\u00a0(That\u2019s why) remittances\u00a0ng<\/em>\u00a0(of) dollar is one of the pillars\u00a0ng ating<\/em>\u00a0(of our) economy.\u00a0Ang<\/em>\u00a0GDP\u00a0diyan<\/em>\u00a0is\u00a0malaki ang binibigay ng<\/em>\u00a0OFWs (OFWs have a huge contribution to GDP), we do not want to repay them with this kind of behavior,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In 2019, OFW remittances reached a record high of US33.5 billion (PHP1.70 trillion).<\/p>\n

Under the IATF-EID guidelines, all returning OFWs, whether land-based or sea-based are required to undergo a mandatory 14-day facility-based quarantine and undergo rapid anti-body based testing.<\/p>\n

Peace Adviser and National Task Force Covid-19 Chief Implementer Carlito Galvez Jr., in the same meeting, bared that they would be organizing “mega swabbing areas” to test more OFWs using the real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing.<\/p>\n

“After they were tested negative, maybe after three days or four days they can go home already with the certification of the Bureau of Quarantine that they are Covid-free,” Galvez said.<\/p>\n

As of Monday, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) reported 68 new confirmed cases of Covid-19 among Filipinos abroad, bringing the total number of positive cases to 1,819.<\/p>\n

The total number of recovered cases among overseas Filipinos worldwide rose to 475 while the death toll climbed to 214.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Duterte also emphasized the role of local officials and police in contact tracing efforts.<\/p>\n

He said the DILG would be providing the guidelines on how local officials could help the national government, stressing that they could not do it on their own.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout the local executives,\u00a0patay<\/em>\u00a0(we\u2019d be dead). We will crumble. So your — your toil is as good as mine,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA\u00a0\u2013 President Rodrigo Duterte urged local government units (LGUs) to accept returning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who have been cleared …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":253906,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1145,16,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-253905","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headline","category-news","category-news-ph","mauthors-azer-parrocha","mauthors-philippine-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=253905"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253905\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":253907,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253905\/revisions\/253907"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/253906"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=253905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=253905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=253905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}