Long quarantine of OFWs discussed at Senate

Due to the length of quarantine of overseas Filipino workers, some feel that they are discriminated against and are not welcome to return home even though they are called “new heroes.”

During the Senate hearing, Susan Ople, president of the Blas F Ople Policy Center, said that OFWs are willing to be quarantined as a precaution against COVID-19 variants. The 10-day mandatory quarantine is too long for them.

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She also said that some of the returning OFWs had been given a complete vaccination from their country of origin.

“Kawawa naman po yung mga OFW. Feeling na nga nila sila yung unwelcome modern-day hero eh. And sa IATF po masakit po marining sa amin, may narinig kami na, may nagsabi sa IATF na baka naman pekehin nila yung vaccination cards nila. Hindi po ganyan yung OFWs natin, ang dami po diyan ang tatagal na sa mga employers bakit naman nila i-jeopardize trabaho nila para mampeke ng vaccination card,” said Ople.

Long quarantine of OFWs discussed at Senate

(They already feel like they are the unwelcome modern-day hero. And at the IATF, it hurts to hear that someone told the IATF that they might forge their vaccination cards. Our OFWs are not like that. Many of them lasted a long time with their employers. Why would they jeopardize their work to forge a vaccination card?)

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The OFWs also allegedly asked why they were quarantined for a long time even though they had been vaccinated in other countries. Still, senior citizens who had already been vaccinated were allowed to walk around, and some foreign investors were allegedly exempted from quarantine.

They are requesting a dialogue with the Inter-Agency Task Force to discuss the request for a shorter quarantine period.

According to vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr., only a few foreign investors or foreigners have been granted exemption from the protocol by the IATF, and they are highly technical people needed in the power industry.

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