OFWs endure some more waiting at PITX before boarding bus rides to provinces

Repatriated overseas Filipino workers who were given clearance to head back to their home provinces had to endure some more waiting upon arrival at the Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange (PITX) since Monday.

Some 200 OFWs who tested negative for COVID-19 and finished their quarantine period spent the night at PITX waiting for their bus trips, according to a report on GMA News' Unang Balita by Mai Bermudez.

Ilang OFWs na nag negatibo sa Covid-19 at pauwi na sana ng kanilang probinsya, na-stranded at sa Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange na natulog @gmanews pic.twitter.com/E44kojnP4t

— Mai Bermudez (@MaiBermudezGMA) May 25, 2020

The OFWs took naps on the chairs.

Sam, a teacher in Thailand, said she was at PITX since 9 p.m. on Monday.

She said the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration treated them well while they were at the quarantine facility in Pasay City.

However, she said it took 12 days before her COVID-19 test result came out, instead of the promised two to five days.

Sam also lamented that they had to find their own way to PITX. They hired a vehicle to bring them from the quarantine facility to get to the bus terminal.

A female nurse from Germany, meanwhile, is wary that they may catch the virus while waiting at PITX.

"Dapat from hotel hanggang pagdating dito, sana diretso na kaagad sa probinsiya namin. Paano kung, diyan o... 'Di namin alam kung ano... Siyempre, natatakot din po kami," she said.

Michael, an OFW going north with his son, finished their 11-day quarantine period but was disappointed at the delay at PITX.

"Hindi namin expected na ganoon pala katagal dito maghintay. Akala namin pagdating namin dito is makakauwi din kami agad," he said.

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) explained that each bus has to fill its 25 seating capacity before it is allowed to leave the terminal to maximize resources.

"Ang 25 that is the number na maging safe tayo in their delivery. Alam mo naman 'pag coming from their hotels, ang dami, in different areas 'yan. And the government has limited resources," explained Captain Garydale Gimotea, deputy commander of the PCG- National Capital Region.

"But still, we try to accommodate na as much as possible mapauwi kaagad sila," he said.

On Monday, around 500 to 1,000 OFWs were able to board bus trips to their home provinces, the PCG said. 

President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday ordered OWWA, the Department of Labor and Employment and the Department of Health to ensure the 24,000 repatriated OFWs waiting in quarantine facilities will be sent back to their home provinces in a week's time. —KG, GMA News