Athlete's village in New Clark City. (File photo)
MANILA -- The Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) said preventive and precautionary measures are in place in New Clark City, where Filipinos to be repatriated from China’s Hubei province would be quarantined.
“We would like to assure the municipality of Capas and its officials that the national government will address all the issues and concerns raised following the decision of the Inter-Agency Task Force for Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases to use New Clark City as a quarantine site for our repatriated kababayans,” the BCDA said in a statement released Friday.
The task force chose the Athlete’s Village in New Clark City (NCC) that was built for the 2019 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games as the quarantine site for 45 Filipinos from Hubei, the epicenter of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), who are expected to arrive on Sunday.
“All preventive and precautionary measures are being put in place by the Task Force not only for our repatriated kababayans, but to also ensure that the adjacent communities of New Clark City and all Capaseños are kept safe and protected,” the BCDA added.
The Athlete’s Village, along with other facilities for the 2019 SEA Games, is the first development in the 9,450-hectare New Clark City.
The Department of Health said there would be limited contact with the community if the repatriated Filipinos stay within the New Clark City property.
On Thursday, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said the repatriated OFWs would be oriented on the quarantine process and asked to fill up health cards.
Centralized processing of all immigration documents will also be done, he added.
The Bureau of Quarantine will coordinate the disinfection of the OFWs’ luggage and the airplane while the Central Health Development Central Luzon will be in charge of disinfecting the vehicles used for transport.
Since the OFWs would be provided packed meals and other needs, Duque said their movement shall be limited to the quarantine building.
The DOH will be in charge of the management coordination and logistics of the quarantine process.
All DOH hospitals in the region will be in charge of deploying medical teams to the quarantine area.
Upon completion of the 14-day quarantine period, the discharge of the repatriated OFWs shall be facilitated by the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration in coordination with the Department of Foreign Affairs.
Meanwhile, the municipal government of Capas, Tarlac has opposed the use of the NCC as quarantine zone for the OFWs.
The Sangguniang Bayan conducted on Friday a special emergency session in view of the arrival of the OFWs.
The town's officials said the decision to use the NCC as isolation area for the returning Filipinos was not coordinated with them.
Capas Mayor Reynaldo Catacutan — who is currently in Germany for a business meeting — appealed on behalf of the officials and his constituents to President Rodrigo Duterte and Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Francisco Duque III to consider another place or facility as isolation area for the 45 OFWs.
"While it is true that I, as a Filipino, am in favor of the repatriation of OFWs from the province of Hubei, China, I feel perturbed by the fact that DOH did not at all, in any way, involve the Capas LGU (local government unit) in its last-minute decision for New Clark City to be used as quarantine zone for these persons under monitoring (PUMs). We acknowledge that the BCDA (Bases Conversion and Development Authority) has full jurisdiction over New Clark City, but I, as the Mayor of Capas, appeal in behalf of all Capaseños to our dear President Rodrigo Duterte and DOH Secretary Francisco Duque to consider another place or facility as isolation area,” he said in a statement. (With report from Marna Dagumboy-del Rosario/PNA)
