Repatriations add to quarantine facilities woes

Quarantine facilities, especially hotels in Iloilo City, are running out of beds amid the surge in local cases and arrival of repatriates.

Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) whose repatriation was organized by the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) without proper coordination with the Iloilo City government added to the problem of overwhelmed quarantine facilities in the city, according to Jeck Conlu spokesman of the COVID-19 Team and head of the Public Safety and Transportation Management Office (PSTMO).

Last Saturday, Aug 22, more than 150 ROFs arrived in Iloilo City. Since there was no proper coordination, and available beds in quarantine facilities were running short, the ROFs were forced to stay at the Iloilo International Airport for a few hours.

They were transferred to LaPaz Gym and later to Iloilo Freedom Grandstand while waiting for available quarantine facilities to serve as their accommodation.

Upon hearing about their situation, Conlu said Mayor Jerry Treñas immediately instructed the City COVID-19 Team to help the ROFs and arrange temporary quarantine facilities.

Supposedly, it should be OWWA that will fetch the arriving ROFs and provide them with accommodation and food, Conlu reiterated.

“Iya gid ni tani sang OWWA but ang city government nagsulod na because kadam-an sang mga OFWs nagabot iya sa city that is why si mayor ga-order maskin midnight nga buligan ang mga OFWs naton regardless kon ano nga province, wala na kami gapamili, importante ari sila sa syudad so buligan sila sang syudad,” Conlu said in a phone interview on Sunday.

The City COVID-19 Team arranged 200 beds for the OFWs at Baluarte Elementary School following the instruction of the mayor.

“For the OFWs who arrived early this morning, we will prepare 200 beds for them at Baluarte Elementary School. These are the temporary facilities for the returning OFWs. Please be informed that these flights were facilitated by OWWA without any coordination with me. Iloilo City will help out OWWA in whatever capacity. We cannot allow OFWs to suffer while we watch even if these flights were never coordinated with the LGU,” Treñas said in a statement.

Conlu also appealed to OWWA to properly coordinate with the Iloilo City government before facilitating flights and boat trips of returning OFWs.

“Amo gid na gina-reiterate nga tani may coordination lang para makapreparar man ang syudad para ma-assess kon ano ka critical ang resources,” he said.

He added that OWWA should consider the temporary stoppage of the repatriation of ROFs to Iloilo City since quarantine facilities are mostly at full capacity.

According to Conlu, hotels and quarantine facilities in the metro are running out of beds due to the surge of local cases and repatriates from other neighboring provinces who are staying in the hotels in the metro.

“Ang aton hotels sa syudad almost puno na ini, occupied na tanan, halos wala na available nga rooms iban mga dormitel nalang, pension houses,” he said.

Almost 80 percent of the hotels in the metro are occupied by repatriates and APORs from Iloilo province and other neighboring provinces, Conlu said.

“May iban taga-iban nga regions nga diri nag-agi so gahulat sila flights ang city and tanan naga-accommodate,” he added.

Based on data from the Iloilo City COVID-19 as of Aug 23, quarantine facilities in the metro has a total bed capacity of 288, catering to 209 confirmed patients.

Only 145 beds remain available in the quarantine facilities which include St. Therese Hospital, Jubilee Hall, Iloilo Central Elementary School, Mabini Elementaary School, Lapaz Elementary School, JNHS AC Tumang 1, JNHS AC Tumang 2, JNHS BFF 1, JNHS BFF 2, and A. Bonifacio.

Conlu said lockdowns imposed on testing laboratories, particularly in Western Visayas Medical Center Sub National Laboratory (WVMC-SNL), resulted in delays in the release of laboratory results. Hence, the slow turn-around time of COVID-19 cases being discharged from quarantine facilities. (ERS)