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| More Filipinos are due to return home over the next few days, as NAIA opens to more international flights |
Filipinos who have recently arrived, or are due to fly home
to the Philippines in the next few days, are up in arms over the lack of clear
guidelines about the mandatory quarantine they face on arrival in Manila, and
reports of long delays in travelers’ swab test results.
The travelers bombarded the Ninoy Aquino
International Airport’s Facebook page with angry comments or
inquiries after the Manila airport announced
it would accept more international flights beginning Jun 1.
For those who are due to fly to Manila
Philippine health officials have promised a wait of only
between three to five days, but many who are already under quarantine in Metro
Manila have reported being stuck in their hotels for days, with no idea of when
their test results would come out.
At least one angrily disclosed that no test kits were
available when he arrived at NAIA on Jun 1, and he was still waiting for when
he could have the swab test, two days after checking into his hotel for
quarantine.
One female OFW who did not say where she was deployed said she was a
domestic helper who left her job after her employer’s mother tested positive
for the coronavirus disease while his sibling died of the illness. She was concerned that she would be made to pay for her swab test and quarantine.
Theresa
Valdez Pascual, apparently a non-OFW, commented that if there
is no test kit, then the authorities should just let them test in the
provinces.
“Kung walang testing kit, sa uuwiang bayan na lang magpa-test
at pauwiin na sana
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| Many recent arrivals are complaining about the lack of test kits at the airport |
Another OFW, Joy Martinez, said she had been under
quarantine in a hotel in Pasay City for 36 days, and had already tested negative,
but she was yet to be picked up by the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration
so she could fly home to Iloilo
“Sobrang nakakainis na talaga. Lagi kong kinakausap sarili
ko na kelangan pa ng patience, makakauwi din ako at sabi ko pa sa sarili ko baka
wala pang scheduled flight pa-Iloilo kaya siguro di pa nila ako sinusundo dito.
Pero nalulungkot na po ako.”
Their frustrations about the delayed test results was worsened
by a report in a Manila daily that the Philippine Coast Guard, which is
conducting swabbing at the airport, had stopped the procedure since Jun 1 as
test kits ran out.
This means a longer wait for thousands of OFWs and other
overseas Filipinos who will be arriving in waves from various work locations in
other parts of the globe.
One Manila daily reported
that around 100,000 OFWs stranded in various jobsites, mostly in the Middle East , are expected to be repatriated in the coming
days.
This was just days after 24,000 OFWs stuck in various
quarantine facilities in Metro Manila for up to two months after testing
negative for the coronavirus, were taken home on mercy trips over a week-long
period.
Philippine Airlines resumed its international flights
between Manila and Singapore Manila to San Francisco
PAL flights between Manila
and Hong Kong , however, will resume on Jun 19
and only every Friday, according to the carrier’s published flight schedule for
June.
On its domestic network, however, PAL cancelled and moved
back some flights it had earlier scheduled for key provincial destinations,
attributing this to “fine-tuning of local government entry restrictions and
requirements.”
It’s been widely reported in local media that local government
units have resisted the resumption of domestic flights, citing the possibility
of contamination, given the high rate of infection in Metro Manila and other
key areas in the country.
The carrier’s flight to Cebu
City earlier scheduled for Jun 3 has
now been moved to Jun 5 and the flight to Davao City
Budget carrier Cebu Pacific, meanwhile, announced it is
resuming domestic flights from Jun 4 until Sunday to General
Santos City ,
Naga City
“As this is a developing situation, flight schedules may
change, subject to approval from the Inter-Agency Task Force, the local government
units and other concerned government agencies,” CebuPac said in an
announcement.
Those who posted comments on the NAIA page mostly said they
are due to arrive in Manila this month from
various places such as the United States ,
Middle East, and other parts of Asia .
The page administrators patiently explained the protocols
imposed by the quarantine authorities who comprise the Inter-Agency Task Force
overseeing the anti-Covid-19 tests for all passengers arriving at the airport
from various points abroad.
One OFW asked whether she will have to pay for the
quarantine facility and testing costs, to which a certain TK Alvarez replied:
“Kung OFW ka po, Ate, shouldered ng OWWA at PhilHealth ang expenses mo sa hotel
facility hanggang sa makauwi ka. Kung non-ofw naman po, galing po lahat sa
bulsa ang gastos.”
“What a joke! No test kit and forcing the people to wait in
the designated hotel? Ashame! (sic),” blasted a certain Frank Leone, who
suggested requiring inbound Filipinos to have a Covid test in their places of
origin and have their negative result stamped by their embassy then undergo
rapid testing upon arrival.
A certain Juan Maria asked whether pregnant women also need
to undergo mandatory quarantine, while another asked whether senior citizens
can be spared the long wait for results.
The webpage admin replied that arriving passengers are required
to undergo mandatory swab testing. Senior, persons with disability, pregnant
women and children should seek assistance from Coast Guard personnel for
special treatment upon arrival, he said.
