President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the government agencies on Monday to bring some 24,000 repatriated overseas Filipino workers (OFW) back to their home provinces within 1 week, said his spokesman.

According to Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, the President gave the order to the departments of labor, health, and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration following reports that some OFWs have been stuck in Metro Manila waiting for their coronavirus test results.

“Hindi katanggap-tanggap sa ating Presidente na matapos maglingkod sa ating bayan ang mga OFWs na napahiwalay sa kanilang mga pamilya, nalungkot at nahirapang magbayad eh ngayon lalo pang mahihirapan habang naghihintay ng kanilang results,” Roque said in a virtual press briefing.

“Sinabi po ng Presidente ngayong umaga na pwede nilang gamitin ang resources ng gobyerno at gamitin nila ang lahat ng transportasyon para mapauwi ang mga OFWs natin,” he added.

Furthermore, Duterte also ordered the agencies to increase the capacity for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing in other areas, so that OFWs may directly go home to their provinces and get tested for the virus there, Roque said.

As of May 17, there are 35 accredited coronavirus testing laboratories nationwide.

So far, the Philippines cases of COVID-19 has recorded 14,035 cases, with 3,249 recoveries and 868 deaths.

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