The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) has imposed a total
deployment ban on the processing and deployment of all overseas Filipino workers
(OFWs) to Myanmar due to a Covid-19 outbreak in the country and the critical situation of its
healthcare system.
The ban covers all OFWs, including crew changes and shore leaves of Filipino
seafarers.
The decision was based on the move of the Philippine Embassy in Yangon and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to alert status in Myanmar to Alert Level 4 or the Evacuation/Mandatory.
“The Philippine Embassy in Yangon and the DFA gave notice that the healthcare system in the country is close to reaching its maximum capacity and may not be able to provide adequate medical attention to Filipinos,” POEA Administrator Bernard Olalia said in a statement.
The POEA had previously banned newly hired OFWs from traveling in Myanmar due to coup-related tensions there.
With the imposition of the evacuation order, Olalia ordered recruitment agencies to repatriate their client OFWs.
In a television interview last Wednesday, Philippine Ambassador to Myanmar Eduardo Kapunan Jr. said they already schedules a flight on Aug. 3, 2021 to bring home the first batch of 59 Filipinos.
He said two other flights will be scheduled to bring home the remaining Filipinos in Myanmar.
Currently, he said 160 of the 500 plus Filipinos in Myanmar have already registered for repatriation.
Read full article on BusinessMirror
