RETURNING RESIDENTS. The Negros Oriental IATF-EID is asking airlines and shipping companies for copies of passenger manifests of returning overseas Filipinos and locally-stranded individuals. Provincial IATF chief Adrian Sedillo said on Wednesday (June 17, 2020) the passenger list helps them in the proper accounting and documentation of the returnees, especially when conducting contact tracing in the event of a positive Covid-19 case. (File photo courtesy of the Provincial Tourism Unit)
DUMAGUETE CITY – The provincial Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) of Negros Oriental is asking airlines and shipping companies for a copy of their passenger manifests to help in the documentation of returning residents.
Adrian Sedillo, provincial IATF executive director, on Wednesday said the absence of a passenger manifest from every commercial aircraft or sea vessel ferrying returning overseas Filipinos (ROFs) and locally-stranded individuals (LSIs) makes it difficult for them to monitor the movement of these people.
The shipping lines have refused to give out these documents, citing privacy reasons, Sedillo said.
Sedillo said Gov. Roel Degamo has already written the vice president of Philippine Airlines -- which has been operating sweeper flights here -- to ask for the passenger manifests with an assurance of strict confidentiality.
For several weeks now, thousands of ROFs, including overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and LSIs, have returned to Negros Oriental and are now in their respective local government units (LGUs), Sedillo said.
Upon arrival here, a composite team receives them either at the airport or the seaports for proper screening, documentation and to subject them to health protocols, prior to their turnover to the LGUs.
Except for OFWs who stay at hotels with the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) covering food and accommodation expenses during quarantine, the rest, upon the discretion of the LGUs, are required to either undergo quarantine at a government-designated facility or at their respective homes.
Sedillo said the IATF understands that while these passenger manifests cannot be made publicly available, it is necessary for them to have a list of the people disembarking in Negros Oriental for proper accounting.
He said the Provincial Tourism Unit (PTU), cannot provide a complete tally of the returning residents immediately as it is relying on the reports of the LGUs based on the arrivals via land, sea, and air.
For those returning to the province via land travel and crossing borders, they usually go directly to their home town or city. He said it is now the LGU that will have to report to the IATF via the PTU on their actual numbers.
A complete and detailed list of the arrivals will make it easier for the IATF to do contact tracing in the event of a confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 case in the province, Sedillo said. (PNA)
