THE Aquino administration should now lift the travel ban it has imposed on Guinea in West Africa after several countries, including the US, have already downgraded the crisis alert status in that country because the Ebola virus outbreak has already been contained.
This call is even more compelling as Christmas is just around the corner where many OFWs would come home to their families. But some could not travel freely due to the restrictions, to mention the 21-day quarantine, imposed upon those coming from Ebola-stricken countries.
No less than OFW advocate Susan “Toots” Ople has called on the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to review the alert level 3 status, and ongoing travel ban, for Guinea in West Africa due to the Ebola virus.
She cited an appeal of Filipino workers who said the ban has been lifted long time ago since other countries already lifted it more than a year ago. Based on official records, there are about 880 workers in Guinea.
According to the US-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the US no longer restricts travel of its citizens to Guinea. It had downgraded alert status for Guinea since November 25, 2015.
Ople who is eyeing a Senate seat in 2016 said she hopes that the DFA and DOLE can sit down with the Department of Health and seek the advice of the World Health Organization on the best options for Filipino workers in Guinea.
“They (OFWs) really want to spend Christmas with their families, and we owe it to them to at least explore such possibilities,” she added.
The POEA Governing Board issued Resolution 14 on July 4, 2014, imposing a temporary suspension on the processing and deployment of newly-hired OFWs to Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, and allow the processing and deployment of vacationing/returning workers there, on account of the spread of EVD, an extremely contagious disease.
Then on December 8, 2014, the Governing Board imposed a total deployment ban for all Filipinos bound for the three countries and instructing Filipinos workers in said countries to return to the Philippines.
The deployment ban and 21-day quarantine for returning workers was based on a DFA assessment of the health crisis at that time due to the Ebola virus. GLOCAL PINOY/FJ MAGLALANG
