Owwa-10 assists 4,580 returning OFWs

By URIEL C. QUILINGUING, Contributing Editor .

THE Overseas Workers Welfare Administration in Region 10 office here has facilitated the return of 4,580 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) through “sweeper flights” and “mercy voyages” from other parts of the country to Laguindingan airport in Misamis Oriental and Macabalan seaport in this city.  

Owwa regional director Petrona Bergado yesterday said the first batch of repatriated OFWs arrived on April 25 and, as of Monday this week, their office has recorded 3,850 airport arrivals and 1,053 vessel passengers.

Bergado said they were “in the midst of confusion and collective fear as we faced this pandemic” but still managed to “pull ourselves by the bootstraps and finally found the rhythm” in assisting OFWs.

Included in the passenger manifestos which Owwa 10 secured were 323 plane and boat passengers which the Department of Health classify as locally stranded individuals (LSI) in the tagging of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) patients.

Of the 4,580 repatriated OFWs that Owwa 10 personnel welcomed upon their arrival, in coordination with regional and local health personnel, 2,539 were from Northern Mindanao, including most of the 323 LSIs.

Out of 2,862 combined OFWs (classified as returning overseas Filipinos or ROF by DOH) and LSIs, 107 of them yielded positive results for the Sars-Cov-2 virus in reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests, according to DOH 10 briefer that was released last night.  

But the briefer also indicated that 90 of the 107 are active cases yet 86 of them are outpatients since they are asymptomatic while the other 17 have already recovered and virus-free.

The total number of OFWs, the Owwa 10 assisted upon their arrival and departure to their respective destinations outside the region were: Caraga (1,053), Region 9 (636), Region 11 (145), Region 12 (117), and Barmm (90).