Interior Secretary Eduardo Año warned local government units (LGUs) that restricting entry of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who had undergone mandatory quarantine and Covid-19 testing was against the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act.

Año specifically called out LGUs with zero coronavirus cases, and said he would go after them if they did not accept returning OFWs.

“Sa mga LGUs na masyadong mahigipit at lumalabag sa ating panuntunan, I’m warning you na i-stop ninyo iyan kasi hindi pupuwedeng sasabihin ninyo na zero [cases] na kami kaya hindi kami tatanggap ng OFWs, hanggang pier lang kayo – hindi po pupuwede iyan. I myself will make sure na hahabulin ko kayo sapagka’t hindi iyan in accordance sa ating Bayanihan Act at sa pinag-uutos ng Pangulo,” Año said during Tuesday’s Laging Handa briefing.

On May 25, President Rodrigo Duterte set a one-week deadline for government agencies to send home some 24,000 OFWs stuck in quarantine facilities for up to a month.

Duterte also underscored the need for LGUs to have stronger polymerase chain reaction testing capabilities, so OFWs could return to their hometowns without having to undergo quarantine in Metro Manila.

Año said 24,000 repatriated OFWs tested negative for the coronavirus.

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said the department’s goal was to bring home at least 8,000 OFWs per day. John Ezekiel J. Hirro