Former Agriculture Secretary and senatorial aspirant Manny Piñol appealed for the condition of several overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who stranded for more than 10 days now in Cebu quarantine hotels.
The OFWs were from the United Arab Emirates. Among them was Piñol’s nephew.
The OFWs, he said, are worried about losing more days in quarantine as they were given only three weeks to spend time with their families.
“Dozens of OFWs from Dubai who were granted a 3-week break are stuck in quarantine hotels in Cebu City for 10 days now. One of them is my nephew, Rej Piñol Servano, who sent me a desperate appeal for help today,” Piñol captioned his Facebook post.
“Rej said that before Typhoon Odette made landfall, the OFWs asked the OWWA and Bureau of Quarantine that they be allowed to leave earlier. This was not granted,” Piñol added.
Piñol appealed to Overseas Workers Welfare Administration to reconsider their situation.
“Tulungan nyo naman itong mga OFWs na stranded sa Cebu. Once a year lang makauwi ang mga ito,” he said.
It’s unclear if the OFWs were stuck because of Typhoon Odette impact or because of the prevailing quarantine protocols amid the Omicron variant.
“For the information of everybody, naka quarantine din ako for six days starting today. Naka booster na ako and i had an RT-PCR test before leaving the US. I am not complaining. I abide with the protocols. Pero hindi na tama na aabot ng sampung araw ang mga OFWs sa Cebu,” Piñol said.
