10 stranded OFWs from SoCot to return home

By Hydee Templonuevo 

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South Cotabato Governor Reynaldo Tamayo Jr. (PNA GenSan file photo)

GENERAL SANTOS CITY -- At least 10 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) from South Cotabato province who were stranded in Metro Manila due to the ongoing enhanced community quarantine in Luzon will finally return home.

South Cotabato Governor Reynaldo Tamayo Jr. said a special flight was being arranged by the national government that would fly home the stranded overseas workers from the province and other areas in Region 12 (Soccsksargen).

Tamayo said they expect the OFWs, who came from five localities, to arrive “anytime soon” at the city international airport here.

Three of them are from Koronadal City, two each from the municipalities of Polomolok, Surallah, and Lake Sebu, and one from Tupi.

“They need to come home and we are helping them,” he said in a press conference in Koronadal City on Tuesday.

Tamayo said the OFWs have completed the 14-day mandatory quarantine for the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) in Metro Manila and were already considered cleared.

The concerned workers failed to return home due to the quarantine and the grounding of domestic flights since last month due to the increasing confirmed cases of Covid-19 in parts of the country.

He said the local government, through its inter-agency task force on Covid-19, is exploring other measures to assist the returning workers.

Tamayo noted that they might recommend their billeting in a hotel or allow them to go home directly to their families, depending on their situation.

A report from the Office of Civil Defense 12 said a total of 33 stranded OFWs from the region would go home soon.

Seven of them are from this city, six from North Cotabato, five from Sultan Kudarat, three from Cotabato City, and two from Sarangani.

The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration has been arranging the “mercy flights” for the stranded OFWs in coordination with the Department of Transportation and the Department of the Interior and Local Government. (PNA)