By Henry Empeño / Correspondent
SUBIC BAY FREEPORT—The provincial government of Zambales has thrown its full support behind a plan proposed by the national government to activate Subic Bay Freeport Zone as a crew-change hub for seafarers but underscored the need for “solid protocols” to ensure the safety of local communities affected by the project.
Zambales Gov. Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. said in a dialogue with officials of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) at the Travelers Hotel here on Tuesday that the plan has been approved in principle. He, however, asked that local concerns, especially in the choice of local hotels to be used for quarantine be adequately addressed.
“The health and safety of locals cannot be compromised,” Ebdane said in the forum attended by mayors and representatives of the towns of Subic, Castillejos, San Antonio, and San Marcelino in Zambales.
“This is our first and last requirement,” he said.
According to DOTr Undersecretary Raul del Rosario, who presented the plan, the project seeks to facilitate the arrival and departure of passengers in all airports, seaports, and land transportation hubs in the country in accordance with the guidelines set by the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases.
It also seeks to implement the so-called Philippine Green Lane to facilitate the speedy and safe travel of seafarers, including their safe and swift disembarkation and crew change during the Covid-19 pandemic.
He said the crew-change hub is an inter-agency undertaking involving the DOTr, Department of Health (DOH), Department of Labor and Employment, the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA), Department of the Interior and Local Government, Bureau of Immigration, and other government agencies.
SBMA Chairman and Administrator Amy T. Eisma, who was present in the forum as resource person, said eight hotels in the free port had agreed to accept returning overseas Filipino workers and expatriates.
But she added that there is a need to involve local government units and consult them at all stages of the crew-change project because the free port workers who would help carry out this plan would be coming from the communities around Subic.
Both Ebdane and Eisma stressed it would be necessary to cover all bases—from the moment seafarers, or other returning overseas Filipinos arrived in Subic—until their departure after quarantine, especially the specific measures in cases when returning seafarers would test positive for the virus.
Castillejos Mayor Eleanor Dominguez also asked that a list be made of all workers from Zambales who will be assigned in the crew-change facilities so that proper monitoring can be made.
Ebdane further raised the possibility of having to house the crew-change workers at the free port as an added safety measure.
Del Rosario, meanwhile, gave the assurance that all these concerns would be looked into. He said that since July 27, the DOTr task group has consulted with concerned agencies, inspected facilities with the SBMA and Philippine Coast Guard, and drafted procedures for anchorage and airport terminal one-stop shop (OSS), as well as lodging facility protocols, in order to check out all project requirements.
Del Rosario said that as of now, they have already ascertained the availability of a DOH-licensed RT-PCR laboratory; certified medical technology practitioners and technicians; swabbers and verification officers; Bureau of Quarantine-accredited facilities; anchorage and docking facility; OSS processing area; dedicated vehicles/vessels; and OSS secretariat.
In the forum, Ebdane also expressed his view that Subic would be ideal as crew-change hub.
“I know that the SBMA, headed by Chairman Eisma, can handle this project very well. Let us help the national government, but let us also raise our concerns so that perceived problems could be addressed at this early stage,” Ebdane said.