HK-based Pinoys seek gov't approval to return to administrative region

Hong Kong-based Filipinos who found themselves stranded in the Philippines after the government imposed a travel ban due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak in China have asked that they be allowed to return to the special administrative region.

An online group #StrandedPH has started a petition seeking government approval to allow Filipinos to fly back to Hong Kong and continue their lives there.

"We have a right to go back to our homes, go back to our lives, make sure that our jobs are not lost," Joms Ortega, leader of the #StrandedPH, said in a report on GMA's "24 Oras Weekend" on Sunday.

The petition comes as President Rodrigo Duterte earlier this month decided to implement a temporary travel ban on mainland China and its special administrative regions Hong Kong and Macau.

The latest reports placed the death toll in China — the epicenter of COVID-19 — at past 1,600 on Sunday, after 139 more people died in Hubei province.

As of Saturday afternoon, there were a total of 487 persons under investigation (PUI) in the Philippines, according to the Department of Health (DOH).

One of the overseas Filipino workers affected by the travel ban was Edward Borja, a permanent resident in Hong Kong, who was currently stranded in the Philippines along with his family due to the ban.

"Iniisip ko 'yung rent ng bahay namin, 'yung aming bills na dumarating, siyempre kailangan bayaran 'yun, and now we're threatened of not receiving any pay by next month," said Borja. — Jon Viktor Cabuenas/DVM, GMA News