Travel restrictions on HK OFWs to be reviewed daily

MANILA, Philippines — The ban on the return of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) to Hong Kong stays and will be assessed daily,  Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said on Wednesday, adding that the workers’ health and safety remained the primary consideration.

Filipinos who work in Hong Kong but happened to be on vacation in the Philippines when the government imposed a travel ban to contain the novel coronavirus, have expressed fears of losing their jobs unless the ban was lifted.

“[W]e’ll assess [the ban] day [to] day and President (Duterte) will decide if he sees the situation [as] safe. [Then] the ban on Filipino workers who want to go back to Hong Kong or China could be lifted,” Nograles told reporters in Malacañang.

“The consideration was to err on the side of caution,” he said, adding that the ban was discussed extensively during the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

The ban would not be permanent, Nograles assured the workers, adding that the Labor department has cash and livelihood assistance programs for the workers, and would help them get deployed in other countries.