Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 2)— The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) on Thursday said its main headquarters receives an average of 200 requests for shortened quarantine period over health and personal reasons.
OWWA Administrator Hans Cacdac told CNN Philippines that cutting short the quarantine protocol of 10 to 14 days is a tough balancing act.
“This is a really sensitive balancing act of course we commiserate with our OFWs who need to grieve over a loved one or visit a loved one in a hospital, but we try our best to elevate this to the DOH,” Cacdac said.
“Tatlong bagay — namatayan, kapag may pamilyang nag-agaw buhay, at ‘yung medical emergencies,” he added.
[Translation: Three things — a loved one died, or they have a dying relative, and medical emergencies.]
The OWWA chief said under the Inter-Agency Task Force’s rules, concerns of this nature should be decided on by the Department of Health and Bureau of Quarantine.
Cacdac said a health worker is assigned in every OWWA-accredited quarantine facility for OFWs to address urgent medical needs.
“This is a border control matter and it’s one of the key strategies in containing the variants,” Cacdac explained.
Returning OFWs are required to isolate in OWWA facilities for 10 days except for those coming from countries under travel restrictions, who must undergo the mandatory 14-day quarantine.
Recently, there were calls to review the existing quarantine protocols for returning Filipinos with medical emergencies after an OFW from Saudi Arabia with cervical cancer died in a hotel quarantine facility in Cebu.
The OFW initially requested to be transferred to a hospital during her quarantine stay but had a hard time because of lack of available rooms. She died without seeing her family on the last day of her isolation.
OWWA said around 10,500 OFWs are now in hotel quarantine facilities nationwide.
