Bohol is bracing for an expected deluge of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and locally stranded individuals (LSIs) as the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has just issued a memorandum and advisory to all local chief executives and police chiefs in the country related to the return of the two groups of people back to their respective hometowns.
In this memorandum, DILG Usec. Epimaco Densing said that from May 25 to 27, 2020, around 8,000 OFWs, each day, are going to return to their respective hometowns in the country.
It is not mentioned how many OFWs are arriving in Bohol. However, there are 67 OFWs that are slated to arrive in Bohol on Tuesday.
Densing said the local government units (LGU) should accept the OFWs as long as they (the OFWs) have the complete documents and requirements.
The DILG OFW desk will coordinate with the respective LGUs.
In the event an OFW has incomplete documents relative to his return, the LGU may subject the OFW to a quarantine or a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test and isolate him while waiting for the results.
The memorandum is dated May 25, 2020.
On the other hand, the DILG also issued an advisory regarding the clarification on LSIs.
The advisory dated May 22, 2020, said “all receiving LGUs shall not deny the entry of the LSIs with complete requirements, provided prior coordination was made through the national task force or the regional task force, and other concerned agencies as deemed necessary.
The receiving LGUs, however, may subject the LSIs to its local protocols and procedures, such as 14-day quarantine and rapid antibody testing for Covid 19 disease that may be consistent with IATF policies”.
The same advisory that was signed by Densing said, “In addition, please be guided that the Certificate of Acceptance by the receiving LGU is not a requirement of the LSI. Only the medical clearance certification issued by the City/Municipal Health Officer and Travel Authority issued by JIT CV Shield are required upon arrival to the concerned receiving LGU. All local chief executives are expected to follow the guidelines of the Inter Agency Task Force on Emerging infectious Diseases.”
As of this writing, there is no report as to how many LSIs are expected to arrive in Bohol in the coming days.
As of posting time, the provincial government of Bohol has yet to issue a statement on how to deal with the expected deluge of OFWs and LSIs in the coming days.