REPATRIATE Jovy Quimque, a Cebuano who worked as a restaurant cook in Cayman Islands, arrived in Manila on April 14.
Thirty-six days later, he and 66 other repatriated overseas Filipino workers (OFW) from the Visayas remained under quarantine at a 2GO ship docked at the Manila Port.
The required quarantine period is only 14 days, which is equivalent to the incubation period for the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) but Quimque and his quarantine mates could not be sent home yet because the results of their diagnostic tests have not been released.
The group of Quimque is among the estimated 18,000 OFWs who are under isolation in hotels and quarantine ships in Metro Manila. A lot of them have been there for more than 14 days.
They have a common wish - that they be allowed to go home to their families.
“Ang tagal na mula nung may nakipag-coordinate sa amin galing sa gobyerno. May iniwan sa amin na number sa Owwa pero wala naman sumasagot. Sa ngayon hindi namin alam kung hanggang kailan pa kami dito. Sana makauwi na kami kasi nakaka-depress na talaga, nakakaburyong na,”
(It has been awhile since somebody from the government left us the number of Owwa, but nobody answers when we call. We don't know until when we have to stay here. We hope to go home because we’re already depressed and bored.)
Quimque said he and around 400 other OFWs arrived in the country on April 14 and were brought to a 2GO ship docked at the Manila Port for the 14-day mandatory quarantine.
After 14 days, Quimque said they were underwent a rapid antibody test.
“May schedule na kami na alis ng barko papuntang Cebu noong May 2 kaso na-cancel kasi gusto silang gawin na swabbing test. Kaya na swab test kami nung May 7 until now wala pa kami result,” he said.
(We were scheduled to leave for Cebu on May 2, but this was cancelled because they wanted to swab us. This was done on May 7. The result has not been released.)
Swabbing is conducted to collect specimen for the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test, which detects the novel coronavirus, or Sars-CoV-2, the highly infectious pathogen that causes Covid-19.
The rapid antibody test conducted earlier merely sought to detect antibodies, or the proteins that are produced to fight off an infection, to indicate whether an individual is suffering from or had suffered from an infection.
“Sabi nung kasamahan ko may certification na kami galling sa Bureau of Quarantine kaso hindi pa nire-release sa amin. Hindi namin alam kung bakit. Ang kinakatakot pa namin nandito kasi kami sa itaas ng barko, tapos nalaman namin merong mga bagong dumadating na dun sila sa ibaba ng barko. Pero kasi centralized ang aircon dito baka mamaya sila pa ang makahawa samin,” he added.
(I learned that the Bureau of Quarantine has issued a certification, but has not released this yet. We are worried that we might get infected if some of the new arrivals are sick because the air conditioning system on the ship is centralized.)
The Bureau of Quarantine certification indicates that an individual has completed the required 14-day quarantine and is cleared for release.
Quimque appealed to the government for help so that he could go home.
“Sixty-seven kami dito puro kami taga Visayas at Mindanao kasi ‘yung mga taga dito sa Luzon mga nakauwi na,” he said.
(There are 67 of us from the Visayas and Mindanao because those from Luzon have gone home.)
He said several fellow OFW repatriates were sent home after they rented a van so they could personally claim the result of their diagnostic test from the Philippine Red Cross.
“Paano sila pinayagan e kami dito ang higpit kahit na sandaling aapak kami sa lupa hindi namin magawa kasi hindi kami pinapayagan kaya nagtataka kami bakit ganun,” he said.
(How were they able to do that? We are not allowed to get off the ship.)
National Task Force Against Covid-19 chief implementer Carlito Galvez Jr., in a meeting with President Rodrigo Duterte Tuesday night, May 19, urged the release from quarantine of repatriates who have been found negative for the novel coronavirus.
Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said 16,000 repatriates in quarantine would be sent home this week.
As of May 19, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), which leads the health screening of repatriated OFWs and returning Filipinos, said a total of 30,918 land and sea-based OFWs have undergone RT-PCR testing.
Around 18,000 are still in various quarantine facilities, the PCG said. (SunStar Philippines)