Duterte concerned over OWWA’s slow action on stranded OFWs – Palace

May 19, 2020

President Rodrigo Duterte is concerned about the apparent slow action by the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA)  involving stranded overseas Filipino workers in various quarantine facilities, Malacañang said on Monday.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, in a virtual press briefing, said the Palace would ask OWWA the inventory of the OFWs who have undergone testing and still waiting for the results of the tests.

"The President is also concerned here because the OFWs have already lost their jobs, they want to go home already, we will look into it how we can fast-track (the process)," he said.

"We will go out our way and actually ask OWWA for an inventory, especially how many have been waiting for a long time for the results (of the test), and really ask the laboratories if they can do it or not...we will do that," Roque added.

In the report of President Rodrigo Duterte to Congress on Monday regarding the implementation of the "Bayanihan Heal As One Act," he said that as of May 13, the Bureau of Quarantine was manning a total of 80 quarantine facilities - 58 are hotels or similar facilities, while 22 are cruise ships -  covering 12,476 repatriates.

As of May 14, there were 32,264 repatriates from 362 repatriate vessels, of which number 22,903 or 71 percent have completed their respective quarantine and the rest were still in quarantine.

In the same report, Duterte said 8,130 land-based repatriates, 7,446 or 92 percent were still in quarantine as of May 13. Celerina Monte/DMS