CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines – Stranded residents and overseas Filipino workers numbering 156 finally came home to Lanao del Sur, after being marooned in Metro Manila due to the lockdown.
The stranded residents and OFWs arrived at Laguindingan Airport in Misamis Oriental, Saturday, June 6, onboard an AirAsia mercy flight from Manila. From there, they took a shuttle to an isolation facility in Sagonsongan village in Marawi City.
Lanao del Sur Governor Mamintal Adiong Jr said that the flight was coordinated between the humanitarian cluster of the provincial and national coronavirus Interagency Task Force.
“Upon their arrival at the quarantine facility, they will be subjected to a medical examination where their own local government units (municipal) are waiting to take them to their own isolation units for the mandatory quarantine period,” Adiong said.
According to Adiong, the quarantine facility in Marawi is a housing project of the provincial and national government that is yet to be turned over to their beneficiaries. (READ: ‘Walang malapitan’: Stranded ‘probinsyanos’ feel abandoned by Duterte gov’t)
“Before going back to their hometowns in our province, they just need to undergo triaging and rapid testing at our community quarantine facility at Barangay Emi-Punud, Marawi City. This is to ensure their health and safety and that of their family and community waiting for them,” Adiong added.
The Amai Pakpak Medical Center in Marawi City is expected to operate within June as Lanao del Sur’s own COVID-19 confirmatory test laboratory using a GeneXpert machine.
The government categorized probinsyanos stuck in Metro Manila as locally stranded individuals (LSIs). Unlike the OFWs, the government does not have an estimate of how many LSIs there are, not even in Metro Manila.
The government is expecting some 16,000 OFWs in June, to be quarantined and tested within 5 days before being allowed to come home. – Rappler.com
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