THE management of the premier airport was swamped with complaints on Sunday and Monday from irate overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), including other travelers.
Most of their lament focused on allegedly inefficient transport service provided by the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) buses.
The buses were supposed to bring the OFWs to designated quarantine hotels or other places provided by the Department of Tourism for other travelers while waiting for the results of the swab test.
A Filipino passenger from New York City who came in via Incheon, South Korea, on board flight KE 623 arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) around 10 p.m. Sunday.
She said she boarded the PCG bus past 6 a.m. Monday “after eight hours of waiting.”
“That is a very long wait for us who can’t even sit because there are limited chairs available,” said the passenger who asked not to be named.
“We waited for over eight hours after submitting the yellow health card to the quarantine personnel who guided us to the swab testing booth, then to the immigration counters for stamping of our passport, then they guided us to the airport lobby where we waited for the PCG bus to arrive.”
The bus driver’s excuse was that they are also servicing the Naia Terminal 2, “that is why we are late, we are supposed to arrive 10 p.m. Sunday and here we are at 6 a.m. Monday.”
The PCG and Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) officers told non-OFWs that they can take the Naia yellow taxi for Department of Tourism (DOT)-designated hotels.
“But nobody from the DOT or even from the airport could tell us the location of the hotels, even if we have to shoulder the taxi fare and hotel accommodation.”
The Sub-Task Group for the Repatriation of OFWs and returning Filipinos had announced that starting June 1, 2020, all OFWs, Filipino seafarers, and overseas Filipinos who will arrive at Naia will have to undergo home quarantine after undergoing swab test administered at the airport, provided that:
- They are residents of the National Capital Region (NCR); and
- They will be picked up at the airport by one family member or driver with a proof of NCR residency.
They shall remain in isolation in their respective homes, following stringent health protocols while waiting for the result of their RT-PCR testing for Covid-19.
Some Filipino domestic passengers who bought air tickets for June 1 scheduled flights were dismayed upon arrival at the airport because their flights to Bacolod and Cagayan were canceled.
“We have been staying in Manila since the enhanced community quarantine in March.”
Annabelle Sato, a passenger bound for Narita, Japan, was also dismayed upon learning that her flight to Japan was also canceled. “I have been stranded here in Manila for almost three months, I wanted to see my kids and I am almost penniless.”
Meanwhile, airport chief Ed Monreal said they are quickly working to develop a safe environment for the return of air passengers. “We are sanitizing our facilities in expectations of more passengers arriving in the coming days.”
He said they have installed protective barriers separating passenger and airline staff at the counter and hope that the protocols established by the inter agency task force would be obeyed “by airport employees and airline passengers.”
Image credits: Nonie Reyes
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