By Daisy CL Mandap
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| Ambassador Sta Roman says top DFA officials have called for the lifting of the travel ban |
The Philippine government has remained firm in its decision
to ban flights to and from Hong Kong, Macau and China, despite appeals from its top
diplomats for a partial lifting so Filipinos who work and live in the affected
areas could leave the country.
According to Philippine Ambassador to China Jose Santiago
Sta Romana, top officials of the Department of Foreign Affairs have interceded
on behalf of the thousands of Filipinos who have been left stranded since the
ban was imposed on Feb 2.
“Senior officials at the DFA are lobbying to lift this
travel ban and allow those with valid work permits to return to China, Hong
Kong and Macau (and now Taiwan), but the decision will be made by Malacanang,
upon the recommendation of an inter-agency committee led by DOH (Department of
Health),” Ambassador Sta Romana said in a message on Feb 12.
Leading the call is Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro
Locsin, Jr., who said on Twitter that he had advised President Rodrigo Duterte
to allow the stranded workers to return to their jobs.
Tagging a report that the first Filipina to be quarantined
in Hong Kong had been released after showing no signs of the virus, Locsin
said: “This is important to my advice to the President to finally grant my wish
to let our domestic workers return to their good Chinese employers in Hong Kong who want them back.”
But five days after the tweet, Malacanang did not only keep
the travel restriction, but expanded it to include Taiwan,
which it said was part of greater China.
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| Some of the estimated 20,000 affected OFWs seeking financial aid from OWWA |
Consul General Raly Tejada has also repeatedly expressed
concern about the plight of the tens of thousands of Filipinos affected by the
ban. These include not only migrant workers but also Filipino residents who
work and live with their families in Hong Kong.
In his most recent show of support, ConGen Tejada said he
was forwarding to the Home Office the sentiments expressed by those who signed
an online petition for the recall of the ban, which was put up on the social
media platform, change.org.
On Feb. 3, he also monitored keenly a cabinet meeting called
by President Duterte to discuss the measures taken to combat the spread of the
novel coronavirus, and was disheartened when no mention was made about the
ban’s impact on Filipinos in Hong Kong.
The ban was imposed after the
Philippines reported its first two
confirmed cases of coronavirus infection. The two were a couple from
Wuhan city, the epicenter of the contagion in
China, who arrived in the
Philippines on Jan. 21.
The woman was said to be still undergoing treatment in San
Lazaro Hospital in Manila,
but her 39-year-old companion had died just before the ban took effect.
The Philippines
has reported three confirmed infections, including the couple, and 70 other suspected cases.
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| Unifil HK calls the ban an 'exaggerated response' to the coronavirus outbreak |
Migrant organization United Filipinos in Hong Kong has denounced the travel ban
as coming too late, as it was declared only after a death from the coronavirus
had occurred, and after hundreds (if not thousands) of Chinese were allowed to
enter the Philippines freely.
But the group also called the ban an “exaggerated response”
for including Hong Kong and Macau.
The group called on the government to allow Filipinos to
return to Hong Kong, especially OFWs whose
jobs have been left hanging in the balance because they are unable to leave.
The call has been reiterated by signatories of the online
petition, many of whom are Hong Kong residents
who decry that they’re being deprived of their work and homes, and like many of
their migrant worker compatriots, are in danger of losing their jobs.
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