COVID-19 test free for returning OFWs, OWWA says amid reports of P20,000 charge

The government is offering free COVID-19 testing for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) arriving in the country, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) said on Tuesday.

Interviewed on GMA Network’s Unang Hirit, OWWA administrator Hans Leo Cacdac said they have received reports that private laboratories are offering the service to arriving OFWs for a fee.

“Ito po ay libre. ‘Yung buong proseso na dini-describe ko ay libre,” Cacdac said.

“Nababalitaan nga po namin na may mga private laboratories daw na nandoon sa NAIA (Ninoy Aquino International Airport),” he added.

Cacdac said Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III and Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade ordered an investigation into the operation of private laboratories inside the airport.

Earlier, Senator Richard Gordon said that Filipinos arriving from abroad are supposedly being charged up to P20,000 for a faster release of their COVID-19 test results.

The Philippine Red Cross (PRC), chaired by Gordon, stopped processing COVID-19 tests in their laboratories as the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) failed  to settle its “ever-increasing outstanding balance.”

Despite the issue between PRC and PhilHealth, Cacdac gave the assurance that medical technology personnel of the Philippine Coast Guard will continue collecting swab samples from OFWs as they arrive in the airport.

Cacdac said the samples will now be processed in 17 national and local laboratories.

“Tuloy po ang libreng proseso para sa kanila mula swab testing tapos processing ng specimen, hotel quarantine pati transport,” he said. —Joviland Rita/KG, GMA News