The Philippines’ chief officials handling the country’s Inter-Agency Task Force for Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) are now focusing their efforts to allow more Filipinos to fly back home by slowly increasing the entry quota for flights headed to the country.
IATF-EID Chief Implementer Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. revealed that the Philippine Embassy in the UAE sent them a letter relaying that around 4,000 OFWs have been affected due to NAIA’s regulations on inbound travel.
“Sa ngayon po ang record pa lang po namin, nakausap po namin ang ating Ambassador ng UAE, mayroon po siyang sulat, nakita nila na initially ngayon mayroon tayong tinatawag na 4,000 na affected noong tinatawag nating regulated inbound travel dito sa NAIA. Sa ngayon ang inaano namin, nagpatupad na po ng pag-uutos ang ating NTF Chair, si Secretary Lorenzana na we want to declog iyong Metro Manila within 2 weeks,” said Galvez.
In line with this, Secretary Galvez stated that National Task Force (NTF) Chair Secretary Delfin Lorenzana had already instructed relevant agencies to reduce congestion in Metro Manila to allow for more OFWs to be stationed at quarantine centres while waiting for their COVID-19 results.
Once Metro Manila’s quarantine centers are decongested, Secretary Galvez said that they can soon increase the country’s entry quote up to 1,000 per day: “So with that, ang mangyayari sa atin is unti-unti po nating iaangat ang ating entry quota to more or less siguro mga 1,000 a day. So in that case, at least iyong 4,000 po na iyon, kapag po naayos po ang ating mga quarantine facilities dito at ma-declog ang quarantine facilities dito sa Metro Manila ay puwede na tayong umangat na pagtanggap ng mga bilang ng ating mga OFWs.”
Galvez assures OFWs that PH officials are doing all they can so that Filipinos who wish to come home would be welcomed back to the country as soon as possible.
“We are really very—we are empathizing with their plight kasi talagang pong napakahirap ang kalagayan po ng ating mga kasamahan sa abroad. But we will do our best na mapapabilis po iyong proseso,” said Galvez.
At present, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) has placed a limit of 400 passengers per day until June 10, unless otherwise rectified. Chartered flights are allowed to land on Mondays and Thursdays provided they have secured a landing clerance from the aviation authority and the Department of Foreign Affairs for slotting purposes. International commercial flights can land on other days of the week, provided they have approval from CAAP at least 48 hours prior to their departure from their airport of origin.
