Returning OFWs face 1-2 day wait over COVID-19 swab test

Overseas Filipino workers who flew in exactly on Christmas Day will still have to wait a day or two for their COVID-19 swab test results before they can spend the holidays with loved ones.

According to Ian Cruz's Friday report on “24 Oras,” 200 OFWs from Abu Dhabi landed at the landed Ninoy Aquino International Airport during the afternoon of December 25.

Among them was Queency Abad, who regularly flies in on Christmas Day from her overseas job.

But this year, Abad said things felt very different.

“Kakaiba. Napaka-quiet. Every Christmas kasi maraming tao, magulo, parang excited lahat,” she explained. “Ngayon kasi parang, first time ko uuwi parang anxious ka. Mamaya magkaroon ng lockdown, makakabalik pa ba ako?”

But for Reynaldo Ablaza, the one to two-day wait was a small matter.

“Hindi ok lang naman eh. Yung pamilya ko naman ok lang naman sa kanila,” shrugged Ablaza.

Meanwhile, the Philippine Coast Guard and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration were at the airport to minimize whatever inconvenience the returning OFWs experienced.

“Ang free ng OWWA yung hotel, accommodation, tapos yung flight ko papuntang local city,” said OFW Jocelyn Perena.

Fights with returning OFWs, one from Dubai, another from Istanbul, and the third from Amsterdam, were expected during Christmas Day evening. Each flight had 500 passengers. — DVM, GMA News