Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) returning to the Philippines need to stay in a quarantine facility before they are allowed to return home to their families. However, there are some claims from repatriated Filipino workers as they were forced to stay in a quarantine facility having poor sanitation.
These incidents were confirmed by the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA). OWWA Administrator Hans Leo Cacdac personally visited the reported quarantine facility.
“Itong hotel na-book ng manning agency, the presumption is very high. And in fairness, first time itong nangyari…Sana huwag lalahatin,” says Cacdac. “We’re seeking the understanding also of the public that it [poor accommodation] can happen. But it has been corrected.”
Furthermore, Cacdac said that the manning agency is responsible for their OFWs returning home. He said that OWWA will shoulder the worker’s accommodation for the quarantine facility in case the agency is incapable of providing the said accommodation.
The issue has been already resolved, according to OWWA.
It can be recalled that Senator Risa Hontiveros urged the Health Department to make sure that the quarantine facility for OFWs are in good condition as there are already a couple of complaints from OFWs having endured a “filthy and unhygienic” situation in the hotel turned quarantine facility in Novaliches, Quezon City.
“It is unacceptable that our OFWs in this time of crisis are forced to suffer these unhealthy, unhygienic and undignified conditions, and the government should act swiftly and decisively to solve this problem,”Hontiveros said.
Source: GMANews
