Moro provinces brace for returning LSIs, OFWs

COTABATO CITY - MORO provinces are bracing for influx of residents among locally stranded individuals (LSIs) and returning overseas Filipinos (LOFs), according to officials from the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

BARMM Spokesperson Naguib Sinarimbo, the region’s Minister of the Interior and Local Government, said local government units (LGU) have committed to comply with the Presidential directive on Wednesday to allow entry for the return resident LSIs to their places of origin within seven days.

LSIs are individuals stranded in the different parts of the country since the outbreak of the Coronavirus Disease (Covid-19) which prompted lockdown in the localities for community quarantine.   

In Lanao del Sur, Governor Mamintal Bombit Alonto Adiong said the Provincial LGU “welcomes back all ROFs and LSFs from that province under the Balik Probinsya Program.”

From Tawi-Tawi, LSIs were advised to coordinate with municipal LGUs of places they were coming from to avail free Balik-Probinsya organized by the provincial government.

Mobin N. Gampal, Provincial Tourism Officer and Provincial Inter-Agency Task Force focal person, said Tawi-Tawi Provicial LGU has chartered a sea vessel M/V Al Frazan to ferry returning residents from Manila and Zamboanga. Accommodation to the vessel has been arranged by batch in order to observe physical distancing on board.

Lanao del Sur BARMM Parliament Member Zia Alonto Adiong said under Memorandum Circular 2020-087, the Balik Probinsya Program does not require LSIs with a letter of acceptance from the LGU were returning to.

He said No LGU shall deny entry for returning constituents; all LGUs are responsible to purchase their own Rapid Test Kit (RTK) to conduct immediate rapid testing to the returnees; all locally stranded individuals are allowed to return regardless of age.

Medical certificates issued to returning residents would have to bear longer period of validity.

Workers of Local Disaster Risk-Reduction Management Offices assigned to fetch returnees are required to wear personal protective equipment.

“The rule under the National IATF guidelines is to require them to have medical certification provided by the LGU where they were stranded. Once they acquire that, they may return home. There’s no need for a certificate of acceptance from the LGU receiving them,” Sinarimbo said.

Sinarimbo said the certificate of acceptance may only result in more stranded individuals gathered in local boundaries that may deny them entry, which would be counter to President’s directive.

He also noted that medical certification would not be based on results of the real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests used for tracing Covid-19, since only patients who possess the common symptoms of the virus are allowed to be tested for RT-PCR.

“The requirement essentially is the medical certification. We, however, advise the LGUs to receive the person but don’t allow them to roam around once they arrive,” he said.

Sinarimbo further advised caution to LSIs going home to consider sense of urgency to protect their families, the community, and to observe quarantine especially to those coming from high-risk identified areas.

“Treat yourself as a potential [risk] and avoid going out,” he said.

ROFs have more stringent requirements to follow. Entry point will in Metro Manila where they will automatically get tested via RT-PCR, before being allowed to return home to their provinces.

Last Thursday, a technical group from the Ministry of Health (MOH-BARMM), Ministry of Interior and Local Government (MILG-BARMM), Ministry of Labor and Employment (MOLE-BARMM), and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) set up help desks in seaports and airports to assist the LSIs and the ROFs.

In the case of the ROFs, Sinarimbo said authorities “want to ensure that they are monitored properly and not make unnecessary physical contacts while coordinating with the LGUs that will receive them.”

The Bangsamoro Government through the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration has already set up and covered the expenses for the isolation centers and hotel accommodations of quarantined OFWs.

“They were sent home because means resource become scarce. OWWA has a welfare fund where a portion of their [OFWs] earning goes to the fund OFWs handled by OWWA. The expectation is to use the money to pay for the expenses.” Sinarimbo said. Nash B. Maulana