Tuesday, May 26, 2020

OFW ‘Quarantine Certificates’ 
now available online: STG RO 

TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol, May 22, (PIA) —Expect a deluge of Boholano Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs), seafarers and returning Filipino and Boholano tourists coming home anytime soon, as the Sub Task Group for the Repatriation of OFWs (STG RO) has turned to a faster method to hasten the repatriation program. 

A sub group of the Inter Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, the STG RO composed by the Bureau of Quarantines (BOQ) and the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) has decided to publish the Quarantine Certificates issued to returning OFWs from abroad who have completed the mandatory facility-based quarantine. 

The Department of National Defense, PCG, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), and the BOQ agreed on the online release of Quarantine Clearance for the OFW, Filipino seafarers, and returning Filipinos who have tested negative in their recent Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) test, May 20, 2020. 

This is in the hope that OFWs who are cleared of the viral diseases can readily rejoin their families as per agreed protocols. 

According to Department of Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Singh-Vergiere, during a town hall meeting with the Presidential Communications Operations Office Friday, that the government is keen on the RT PCR as this would be a more reliable test as this can determine the presence of the virus in asymptomatic patients. 

Real time RT-PCR is a nuclear-derived method for detecting the presence of specific genetic material from any pathogen, including a virus. 

The readily available Rapid Antibody Test, she explained, can only be used after the patient has exhibited symptoms of about 7 days. 

As of May 21, 2020, about 14,669 overseas Filipino have been issued clearance to return home to their provinces and towns, STG RO said. 

But owing to the travel restrictions and the inconveniences of lining up to claim the clearances, the STG has put up the clearance online. 

Through STG RO Advisory Number 052020-001, dated May 31, the repatriation agencies had published the Quarantine certificates in the PCG websites (www.coastguard.gov.ph) and facebook page (@Philippine Coast Guard), and where OFWs concerned may download and print or screenshot their respective BOC-PCG quarantine Certificates as evidence of their health condition when returning to their respective home communities. 

The same website also published the OFW’s Philippine Red Cross RT-PCR test laboratory report and a Master List of the OFWs qualified by the STG to return home. 

The Advisory, signed by Admiral Joel S Garcia PCG, also said all LGUS, Local Health Offices, Regional task Forces of the National task Force COVID-19, the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police Units and personnel manning checkpoints and other government units and private entities concerned are informed and enjoined to extend assistance to the qualified OFWs returning to their come communities. 

And as a security measure, the STG said the authenticity of the online generated Quarantine Certificates may be counter-checked through the master List of qualified OFWs as published in the PCG website and facebook accounts. 

Or, concerns relative to the authenticity of the Quarantine Certificates can be vetted by email to : stg.repat.ofw@coastguard.gov.ph or pcgcomcen@coastguard.gov.ph and its hotline numbers 0917-8424980, 0917842824, 09188038353 and 0998-589-3982. (rahchiu/PIA-7/Bohol)

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