6k OFWs waiting for COVID results quarantined — OWWA chief

By JOAHNA LEI CASILAO, GMA News Around 6,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who are waiting for their coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) test results are isolated in hotel quarantine facilities in Metro Manila, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) said Wednesday. These are the OFWs who were stranded due to delayed test results after the Philippine Red Cross halted its operations due to the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation’s inability to settle its “ever-increasing outstanding balance.” “Stranded in the sense na ‘yung 17 government labs ang nag pro-process nung results kaya tayo ay nananalig doon sa sinabi na three to seven days ang processing time,” OWWA Administrator Hans Leo Cacdac said in an interview on Dobol B sa News TV. Cacdac also said the quarantined OFWs did not exceed the capacity of the quarantine facilities. “So far kakayanin, kakayanin natin dahil tatandaan natin nung bandang Mayo kinaya naman nung 12,000 hanggang 15,000. Kaya sa ngayon kung pinag-uusapan natin ay 6,000 hanggang 7,000 ay kakayanin ito, kakayanin ito ng ating hotel quarantine facilities in coordination with the Department of Tourism,” he said. Cacdac also said that he has high expectations for finishing the backlog. “Kasi kanina lang nag pulong… nandoon ‘yung mga government laboratories na talagang nanalig tayo sa kanilang committment na talagang they will process… within the normal times, processing times, schedules,” he said. “So ‘yun napapakita naman nila, na demonstrate nila, in the last two days dahil 5,700 in two days ang lumabas na resulta,” he added. — RSJ, GMA News

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PCG: China’s bullying in West Philippine Sea undermines international law --- Ghio Ong - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — Letting China sustain its aggression in the West Philippine Sea would make other countries doubt the strength of international law currently being asserted by the Philippines, Commodore Jay Tarriela of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said. “Allowing China to blatantly disregard the established rules-based order threatens the very foundation that we all depend on,” he wrote in a post on X last Tuesday. He added, “If we permit this, countries worldwide may forget why this order was created in the first place. Nations could begin to doubt the significance of adhering to international law if powerful bullies can easily violate it.” Tarriela also said defiance of other countries to a rules-based order would result in the prevalence of cruelty. He wrote, “This could lead us back to a time when might makes right, undermining the global structures that keep human greed, savagery and barbarism in check. Such a scenario would not only invite challenges from aggressive ...
Read more

China ships maintain presence in key West Philippine Sea areas --- Michael Punongbayan - The Philippine Star

STAR / Michael Varcas MANILA, Philippines — While Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) have decreased in number, they have maintained a presence in three key land features where naval and coast guard ships have intensified operations in the past seven days, according to the Philippine Navy. Latest monitoring by the Philippine Navy showed armed ships of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) maintaining a menacing presence around the grounded BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal, Panatag Shoal and Escoda Shoal. According to the Philippine Navy, there are 17 Chinese military vessels and 28 China Coast Guard (CCG) boats spotted inside the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) between Sept. 23 and 30, or one vessel more than in the previous week Sept.17-23. Five of the warships were seen roaming around the vicinity of Escoda Shoal, along with 10 CCG vessels and 12 maritime militia vessels (MMVs). There are also two PLAN ships in Ayungin Shoal as well as 10 CCG boats and 12...
Read more

Social media seen as cause of rising intermarriages --- Helen Flores - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) sees social media as the main reason for the rising number of Filipinos marrying or becoming partners of foreign nationals. In 2022, the CFO recorded 6,854 marriages or partnerships with foreign nationals, a 40.1 percent increase from the 4,891 “intermarriages” recorded in 2021. “First of all, what we see in the increase in the marriage rate of Filipinos or Filipinos with foreign partners is because of social media, (that) is number one; matchings; letters, introduction of their friends,” CFO chairperson Romulo Arugay said at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing yesterday. Arugay said the agency has been registering a high number of intermarriages since 2007, but the figures went down during the COVID-19 pandemic. From over 6,500 Filipinos who married foreign nationals, only 600 are men, he said. Most of them are married to Americans, Japanese, Germans, Canadians and Australians, Arugay said. Arugay warned Fi...
Read more