OFWs in quarantine facilities manageable but already a red flag — OWWA

By GISELLE OMBAY, GMA News Published January 6, 2022 1:36pm While the number of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) staying in quarantine facilities is still manageable, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) said it is already considered a red alert for them. At the Laging Handa briefing on Thursday, OWWA Administrator Hans Cacdac noted that there are about 9,000 OFWs currently being observed in 240 hotel quarantine facilities. “Manageable ang sitwasyon sa ngayon although medyo red flag or red alert levels na ‘yan for us. Binabantayan natin maigi ang sitwasyon. Nakadepende ito kasi sa bilis ng pag-swab test at bilis ng paglabas ng swab test result,” he said. (The situation is currently manageable but that is a bit of a red flag or red alert levels for us. We are keeping a close eye on the situation as it still depends on the speed of the swab test and getting the results.) Cacdac explained that if there are more OFWs in quarantine facilities, there is a bigger likelihood of receiving day to day complaints like in food, medicine, and health issues. OWWA has deployed more teams on the ground to oversee the needs of the quarantined OFWs. The conduct of the swab tests are also being coordinated with OWWA’s partner government agencies to speed up the processing and the smooth return of the OFWs in their home regions, Cacdac added. President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday ordered law enforcers to guard hotels serving as quarantine facilities for returning Filipinos following the viral report of a woman named Gwyneth Chua who skipped quarantine after arriving from the United States to attend a party and go to several restaurants in Makati. On December 27, Chua tested positive for COVID-19. Her fellow party-goers and some patrons and staff of a restaurant later tested positive for the disease. The Department of Tourism (DOT) suspended the accreditation of Berjaya Makati Hotel, where Chua was reported to have cut her quarantine at, for failing to stop her from breaking quarantine rules. — 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