An organization of hotels in the Philippines has revealed that some of their members may decide not to accept overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who need to undergo quarantine due unpaid debt incurred by the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA).
Hotel Sales and Marketing Association (HSMA) President Christine Ann Ibarreta told the Business Mirror that a number of their members can no longer sustain expenses in hosting OFWs, owing to the Php241 million debt of OWWA as of Oct. 31.
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Most of these hotels, which were converted into temporary quarantine facilities, are in Metro Manila, Cebu, and Tagaytay.
“We will try to accommodate their needs, but at some point, we might have to do just that (not to accept OFWs) if OWWA continues to refuse paying our hotels. Our establishments need the income to pay our employees,” she said.
She added that a task force has already been set up by the agency, but they are still waiting for progress on the payments.
According to Ibarreta, the following hotels have yet to receive payment from OWWA:
Sofitel Philippine Plaza, P45 million
Golden Phoenix, P36 million
Seda Residences Makati, P9.5 million
Astorias Ortigas and Makati, P11 million Linden Suites, P19.3 million
Luxent Hotel, P12.9 million
Ace Hotels, P6 million
Quest Tagaytay, P3.2 million
Discovery Suites, P3 million
Hotel Rembrandt, P7 million
Microtel/Tryp by Wyndham P26.5 million Midas Hotel, P4.1 million
Azumi Boutique Hotel, P3.5 million
One Pacific Place, P11.7 million
Quest Hotel Cebu, P15.7 million
Crimson Hotel Filinvest, P5 million
Marco Polo Cebu, P473,000
Chateau Royale, P4 million
The group said they have yet to decide if they will follow the footsteps taken by Philippine Red Cross (PRC) which stopped COVID-19 swab testing after PhilHealth failed to pay their PHP930-million debt.
PRC has resumed last week its swab test services for OFWs after receiving PHP500 million partial payment from the state insurer.
