Halos 500K na displaced OFWs, nakabalik na sa kanilang probinsiya

UMABOT na sa halos 500,000 displaced overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) dahil sa coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) ang nakabalik na sa kani-kanilang bahay sa probinsiya sa pamamagitan ng tulong mula sa gobyerno.

Ayon ito sa iniulat ng Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA).

“As of March 10, we have 470,000 OFWs. It is approaching the half a million mark of those that we have sent to their home regions by the OWWA and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and it is also an inter-agency effort,” pahayag ni OWWA administrator Hans Leo Cacdac.

Tiniyak naman ni Cacdac na patuloy ang pagbigay ng gobyerno ng tulong sa mga bumabalik na OFWs kabilang ang libreng swab testing, pagkain, akomodasyon, at transportasyon patungo sa kanilang probinsiya.

“Upon orders of the President, swab testing or PCR testing of arriving OFW is free, the quarantine hotel facility including food is also free and also the transportation to their home regions,” ayon kay Cacdac.

Kasalukuyang nasa 10,000 na OFWs sa 150 na mga hotel facility ang nanatili at naghihintay ng kanilang iskedyul para sa transportasyon pabalik sa kanilang mga probinsiya.

(BASAHIN: Libreng hotel quarantine, para lamang sa umuuwing OFWs)

Base sa tinatayang maximum cost ng hotel accommodation sa bawat gabi na aabot sa P3,000, gumagastos ang gobyerno ng P30-M kada araw.

“I will give an estimate, the maximum cost per night in a hotel is around P3,000. It could be less depending on the classification of the hotel. If it’s five-star, maximum of P3,000 per night and then if lesser degree than five-star, less than P3,000, and then we have around 10,000 OFWs right now. So, our projected daily cost is P3,000 times 10,000,” dagdag ni Cacdac.

Ayon pa kay Cacdac, ang nasabing halaga ay para sa akomodasyon lamang at hindi pa kasali ang gastos sa pagkain at transportasyon.

“It does not include food and transportation. It’s only for hotel accommodations. Of course, included in the hotel accommodations, the food while they are there. There are other food costs, for example, if they have been transported to the airport they will be provided with food. If they will be brought to the bus terminal, they will be given food,”aniya pa.

Hindi naman maitantya ni Cacdac kung ilang mga OFW pa ang inaasahang magbabalik sa bansa.

“It’s difficult to say since the situation right now is fluid because of the vaccine. That will depend on the extent and the efficacy of the vaccination program of countries worldwide, so I want to say 80,000 to 100,000 in the course of the year but I think that is dependent on how the vaccination program of the whole world. The computation for this year will change because of the vaccination phenomenon,” dagdag ni Cacdac.

SMNI NEWS