Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 11) — The OFW-mother of a young girl who recently died is lamenting over the prolonged quarantine and flight cancellation that have prevented her from seeing the remains of her daughter.
“Gusto ko po sana makita ang labi ng anak ko kasi siyempre masakit bilang ina ang mawalan ng anak. Kaya sinikap ko talaga makauwi. Kaso pagdating dito ang higpit, wala man lang exemption, wala man lang assistance,” Elagos told CNN Philippines.
[Translation: I really want to see the remains of my daughter because obviously it’s painful to lose a child. I really made an effort to come home. But when I got here, I realized I am not getting any assistance or being provided exemption for special reasons.]
Elagos arrived in the Philippines from Lebanon on Jan. 1 but she needed to undergo the mandatory quarantine for returning Filipinos. Her daughter named Princess died due to meningitis a few days before Christmas.
After finishing her quarantine, Elagos said she was told she may have to stay in quarantine longer because flights going to the province have been canceled due to a surge in new infections and restrictions brought by the Omicron variant.
The grieving mother, though, is not giving up hope to see her daughter at the latter’s wake in their province in Antique.
Elagos was not able to go home in the last four years. She said she sacrificed the chance to be with Princess because she has yet to save enough money for the latter’s future.
“Apat na taong hindi ko nakita ang anak ko, ngayon uuwi ako patay na siya. Sana man lang maabutan ko pa ang burol niya kaya hindi ako maaring magtagal sa quarantine,” the OFW said.
[Translation: I was not able to see my daughter for four years. Now I am going home, she’s already gone. I hope that I can still make it to her wake that’s why I cannot stay longer in quarantine.]
She tried going home in 2020 when she found out about her daughter’s condition but failed due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Despite the flight cancellations, Elagos said she tried securing a trip via sea so she can go home to the province immediately.
“Sana lang mas mabigyan ng pansin at konsiderasyon itong mga ganitong sitwasyon na mga nawalan ng mahal sa buhay,” she said.
[Translation: I hope that situations like these when loved ones are lost will be noticed and given consideration.]
OWWA: Exploring all options to bring home stranded OFWs
In an interview with CNN Philippines, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration Chief Hans Cacdac said that over 9,000 OFWs are currently staying in 240 quarantine facilities.
These quarantine facilities are only for those who arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport and excluding other international gateways in the country.
Cacdac said that while the situation remains manageable, it is also nearing the critical level in terms of quarantine facilities.
“Critical level when we hit around 10-11 thousand. Kakayanin pa naman kaso ito na yung ma- feel natin ang pinch ng quarantine facilities na available,” he said.
[Translation: It’s critical level when we hit around 10-11,000. We can still handle it. But this is the point when we have to stretch the quarantine facilities available]
The OWWA chief also admits that some OFWs may spend longer time in quarantine facilities due to the COVID-19 surge, which led to testing backlog results and flight cancellations.
“There have been delays with respect to some government labs when it comes to releasing results. This was brought on by the increasing number of people who were tested positive for COVID-19. So far as the airlines are concerned, we have had flight cancellations in the last four days so some of our OFWs have to stay behind in their hotels,” Cacdac said.
The OWWA official said they can mount an average of seven to eight domestic flights but it is now cut to two to four flights due to the surge.
Cacdac added that they are now working to tap more partners for COVID-19 tests of OFWs to fast track their results and to explore other transportation options to bring home OFWs to their provinces.
Meantime, Cacdac also offers his sympathies to the family of Elagos. The agency will reach out to her and extend the necessary government assistance to her family.
“We commiserate and empathize with OFWs who have lost a loved one or those with loved ones in hospitals. But we have to understand the overall situation. We receive 100-150 requests every day but not all are granted by the Bureau of Quarantine,” Cacdac said.
