SUBIC BAY FREEPORT— Even as travel restrictions were imposed by some countries due to the emergence of the latest Covid-19 variant Omicron, the repatriation of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) will continue at the Subic airport here until the yearend, Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) officials confirmed on Sunday.
For the first time here, two Philippine Airlines (PAL) aircraft arrived within two hours of each other on Sunday to bring home two more batches of OFWs from Abu Dhabi and Dubai, both cities in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The recent arrivals brought the OFW flights via Subic to a total of 42 and the passengers coming in through the Subic airport since July this year to a total of 11,410.
SBMA Chairman Wilma T. Eisma said at least 10 OFW flights to the Subic Bay International Airport (SBIA) have been scheduled this month under the government’s repatriation program despite concerns about the virus variant spreading in some African and European countries.
“OFWs continue to be repatriated through Subic, and everything’s as normal as when the program started here in July,” Eisma said on Sunday.
“We can be assured that no passengers will be brought here from any red-listed country because the government has prohibited the inbound international travel of all persons from red-list areas regardless of vaccination status,” Eisma added.
The Philippines’s Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) had earlier placed South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Eswatini and Mozambique on the red list after the Omicron variant was identified in South Africa last Nov. 25.
But as the variant was traced in Europe days after, the IATF added to its list Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium and Italy effective Nov. 28 until Dec. 15.
The government had earlier said it planned to suspend measures to relax entry for vaccinated tourists because of the emergence of the Omicron variant, but the Department of Health (DOH) said on Saturday there was no reason to panic over the new variant, as there has been no sudden increase or clustering of cases lately.
Eisma pointed out that the OFW repatriation program here is being handled carefully by the Department of Transportation, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, and Bureau of Quarantine.
“We all see to it that IATF guidelines on health safety are strictly enforced while the repatriation program continues here,” she added.
According to SBMA Senior Deputy Administrator for Operations Ronnie Yambao, more PAL flights are expected this month because of the holiday season. The first flight arrived here on Dec. 3, followed by two more last Sunday, Dec. 5; then one each on Dec. 10, 12, 17, 19, 24, 26, and 31.
SBIA manager Zharrex Santos said a total of 42 OFW flights had so far brought in 11,410 passengers, including returning overseas Filipinos, to the Subic Bay Freeport.
These included six flights in July, seven in August, 10 in September, five in October, 11 in November, and three so far in December, Santos added.
Upon arrival in Subic, OFWs and other returning Filipinos are required to stay in Subic hotels for a BOQ-supervised quarantine of up to 10 days.