More than 4,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are currently stranded in Manila after the refusal of Philippine Red Cross (PRC) to do swab testing for returning migrant workers, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said.

The decision to halt swab testing for OFWs comes after PhilHealth’s failure to pay its outstanding debt to PRC amounting to almost Php1 billion.

DOLE Sec. Silvestre Bello said, “We are facing new issues in bringing home OFWs. They are staying longer than a week in isolation hotels, the expenses are rising as they wait for swab test results,” Bello said.

DOLE said that the government is expecting 100,000 or more OFWs to fly home between now until yearend.

“The faster that we resolve the Red Cross payments, the better for government finances,” he said.

The Department of Health (DOH) earlier announced that OFWs from countries with low to mid risk COVID-19 cases may no longer need to undergo swab test and mandatory quarantine when they arrive in the Philippines.

This move was announced by the DOH following the announcement of PRC that it would stop COVID-19 tests due to delayed payments from PhilHealth.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire, in a virtual press briefing, said it applies to asymptomatic OFWs from low-mid risk prevalence of COVID-19 only. She said that returning OFWs must observe minimum public health standards.

However, she also stressed that OFWs must still comply with the safety protocols in place in their respective provinces. And this may entail COVID-19 testing and quarantine.

“We are rationalizing actually not just the resources but also protocols that we do. If you would notice in the previous protocol that we have, we would be testing OFWs when they arrive. Once they test negative, we send them to their provinces,” she said.

“But whatever the local governments would require for them to enter into their province, they have to comply,” she added. “Once they arrive in their provinces, they get to be tested again. They get to be quarantined again. So we are just rationalizing the protocols.”

The DOH has yet to issue a list of low and mid risk countries for COVID-19.

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