Seafarer groups back Cebu's swab-upon-arrival-policy

Seafarer groups back Cebu's swab-upon-arrival-policy
Yashika F. Torib June 16, 2021 https://www.manilatimes.net/2021/06/16/business/maritime/seafarer-groups...

Several seafarer groups are pushing for the national implementation of the Swab-Upon-Arrival policy for merchant mariners that has been practiced by the province of Cebu since March 2021.

In a letter addressed to Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Disease (IATF) chairperson and Department of Health (Doh) secretary Francisco Duque III, the Integrated Seafarers of the Philippines (ISP), Mariners' and Allied Transport Employees Union (MATEU), Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SONAME), and ANGKLA Partylist jointly appealed for the adoption of Executive Order No. 17 Series of 2021 or the Swab-Upon-Arrival-Policy that was enacted by Cebu province for Returning Overseas Filipinos (ROFs) and Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW).

The said order took effect on March 31, 2021. It mandates that a swab test should immediately be conducted upon arrival of OFWs or ROFs and that if the test result of the Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) yields negative, they shall then be allowed to proceed to their homes where they can continue the compliance to the quarantine period. On the seventh day, a swab test will again be conducted in compliance with the directive of IATF.

Less than two months later, however, IATF issued a resolution stating that all arriving travelers, including ROFs and OFWs, shall undergo a 14-day quarantine upon arrival with the first ten days spent in a quarantine facility and the remaining days at home. The RT-PCR test will be conducted on the seventh day of quarantine and regardless of the result, the arriving travel shall still complete the 10-day quarantine period.

According to the seafarer groups, the new testing and quarantine protocols for ROFs and OFWs are redundant procedures of what has already been done before the seafarer's arrival in the country.

"Our returning seafarers are already subjected to strict tests in the respective countries where they come from before they are sent to the Philippines. They are closely monitored, and their body temperatures are recorded every day while onboard the vessels. Proper health protocols are also strictly observed and implemented while in ports to prevent the transfer of the dreaded COVID-19 virus," the letter stated.

"The IATF protocols impose unnecessary burden and prejudice to our returning seafarers," it added.

Consequently, the group pushed IATF to "reconcile and harmonize the policies, rules, regulations, and procedures" as regards the arriving OFWs and ROFs by adopting Cebu's Swab-Upon-Arrival-Policy as "it is more attuned with acceptable protocols that health organizations throughout the world adhere to."