OFWs to stay in Metro Manila for only 5 days

By: Julie M. Aurelio - Philippine Daily Inquirer - 4 years ago

Repatriated overseas Filipino workers (OFW) will only stay in Metro Manila for a maximum of five days for new coronavirus testing and isolation before they are ferried to their provinces.

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana vowed to fast-track the OFWs’ repatriation and avoid the congestion of quarantine facilities.

Lorenzana said the government was ironing out kinks in the process to prevent a repeat of the 24,000 OFWs stranded in several quarantine facilities.

“We agreed that upon arrival, an OFW should only stay a maximum of five days in Manila. It could be less, but the maximum is five days,” Lorenzana said. Lorenzana chairs the National Task Force COVID-19.