By Daisy
CL Mandap
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| Airlines are still not flying from Manila to HK despite the partial lifting of the travel ban |
August 9 came and went, and no
Filipinos flew into Hong Kong despite its announcement that it was lifting its
ban on vaccinated travelers from countries it designated as high risk for
Covid-19, including the Philippines.
Flight information from Philippine
Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Cebu Pacific showed not one of them had scheduled
travel to Hong Kong from Manila yesterday.
The earliest scheduled flight for
that route is on Aug 15 for CX906 (Cathay), Aug 19 for PR300 (PAL) and Aug 22 for 5J
272 (Cebu Pac).
This is because of Hong Kong’s condition
that all travelers from category A countries like Philippines must not only be
vaccinated, but must also hold a “valid vaccination record.” This effectively lifted the ban only for returning residents and OFWs who have been vaccinated in Hong Kong.
As the Philippines has yet to get
its vaccination records recognized by Hong Kong, most of those stranded there,
including an estimated 3,000 overseas Filipino workers, will have to wait some
more to get the green light to come here.
Despite this, Labor Attache Melchor
Dizon told a Philippine daily that the stranded OFWs can now enter Hong Kong
because of the lifting of the travel ban.
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| Dizon (in white shirt) with Consul General Tejada |
He was also quoted in the
Philippine Star report published early on Monday that more OFWs may come in
since the Philippine Overseas Labor Office continues to process job orders.
The report also said “Hong Kong
still requires a 14-day quarantine even for fully vaccinated workers upon arrival.”
A text message sent to Dizon asking for a clarification went unanswered.
Eman Villanueva, chair of Bayan
Hong Kong and Macau, expressed outrage at what he called as “misleading”
information from Labatt Dizon.
“Maling mali ang impormasyon. Misleading ito at malayo sa katotohanan,”
Villanueva said. “Almost 4 months nang naka-ban ang entry ng mga galing sa
Pilipinas. Maliban sa mga vacationing OFWs na fully vaccinated na before they
left Hong Kong for the Philippines, wala pang ina-allow na makapasok.”
(The information is all wrong. It
is misleading and far from the truth. It has been almost four months since Hong
Kong banned the entry of passengers from the Philippines. Apart from vacationing
OFWs who were fully vaccinated before they left Hong Kong for the Philippines,
nobody else is allowed to come in).
Villanueva stressed that up to
now, the Consulate is still in talks with Hong Kong authorities to get the
Philippines’ “yellow card” which is meant to serve as its international
vaccination record recognized here.
He added, referring to the
quarantine period for vaccinated travelers coming in from the Philippines, “and
it is not just 14 days but 21 days.”
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| Villanueva says the misleading statements compounded the misery of stranded OFWs |
Villanueva was amazed that the
country’s top labor official in Hong Kong was clueless about the problems still
being faced by the stranded OFWs in the Philippines, and in the process, gave
them false hope which only compounded their misery.
The Philippine Star report also caused
confusion among OFWs, especially those who had been waiting to enter Hong Kong
since the flight ban was imposed on Apr 20. Some had forwarded links to the
story, and wondered why it differed from what they had been told.
An employment agency owner was
equally surprised that Dizon had misinterpreted Hong Kong’s statement that it
was lifting the flight ban only for residents and returning migrant workers in the
Philippines who had been fully vaccinated here.
“Then tell all the stranded workers
to approach him,” the recruiter said in jest.
According to the government’s
announcement last week, vaccination records held by travelers from high-risk
countries will only be recognized as valid if they were issued in Hong Kong,
Macau or the mainland, or any country where its national regulatory authority
has been designated by the World Health Organization as “a stringent regulatory
authority.”
The Philippines, like six other
countries in the high-risk category, do not hold such recognition. Only the
United Kingdom and Ireland in that list have that status.
Consul General Raly Tejada has
said in a recent interview that he was still in talks with Hong Kong officials
on how vaccination records issued in the Philippines could be verified to allow
inoculated residents and OFWs to start coming here.
But he said Hong Kong appears inclined
to accept the WHO International Certificate of Vaccination being issued by the
Bureau of Quarantine in the Philippines, so long as they contain relevant
information such as the holder’s vaccination record and passport details.
He also said the Consulate has
been working very hard to strike a deal with Hong Kong so Filipino workers can
start coming in as soon as possible.
