CAGAYAN de Oro Second District Representative Rufus Rodriguez has urged the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) against Covid-19 and the Overseas Workers Welfare Association (Owwa) to bring stranded workers and students in Luzon back to their hometowns.
Rodriguez said the government should "organize sweeper flights or sea transport for returning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) stranded in Metro Manila and Clark Pampanga who are from Mindanao and Visayas."
"Most of them arrived on March 13 to 15. They have been stranded for more than 40 days. They have all been tested for Covid-19 and found negative. I am in touch with more than 40 OFWs from Cagayan de Oro currently sheltered in Clark and more than 60 OFWs from CDO stranded in Metro Manila," Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez also said there are 17 students from Cagayan de Oro and more than 60 from other parts of Mindanao who are stuck in UP Los Banos in Laguna.
Sixteen more students from the city are also stranded in UP Visayas in Iloilo.
"I hope the IATF and the Owwa have an evacuation plan to bring these returning OFWs and students to their respective provinces and cities in Mindanao and the Visayas. They are already running low on personal supplies. More importantly, they already miss their families badly," Rodriguez said.
The Kagay-anon lawmaker said these workers and students should also be given financial assistance.
"They are willing to go on a 14-day quarantine upon arrival to their communities. I urge the local government units to accept them, undertake their quarantine accommodations and monitor them," he added.