SAFE ARRIVAL. The buses that carried the 499 locally stranded individuals (LSIs) from the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) arrive from Cagayan de Oro City at the isolation facility of the Sanitarium Hospital in Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao late Thursday (July 9, 2020). The LSIs (Inset) will be sent to their respective provinces after testing negative from coronavirus disease rapid testing while those who will turn out positive will stay behind to complete the mandatory 14-day quarantine. (Photo by BARMM Interior Minister Naguib Sinarimbo)
COTABATO CITY – Health front-liners in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) are now attending to the needs of 499 locally-stranded individuals (LSIs) who arrived in Maguindanao last night from Cagayan de Oro City.
The LSIs, mostly residents of Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi (BaSulTa), all island-province components of BARMM, were mistakenly dropped off in Cagayan de Oro City port from Manila instead of Zamboanga City.
Onboard 17 chartered buses, the LSIs arrived at 11 p.m. Thursday at the compound of the Sanitarium Hospital in Sultan Kudarat town in Maguindanao where the newly-constructed coronavirus disease 2109 (Covid-19) isolation facility of BARMM is located.
BARMM Interior Minister Naguib Sinarimbo said all of them including the front-liners who assisted them as they arrived, were subjected to Covid-19 screening and other health protocols.
“The LSIs are being attended to by our front-liners,” Sinarimbo told the Philippine News Agency (PNA), adding that those who will come out negative after rapid testing will be sent to their home provinces.
“BaSulTa residents who will be tested positive will stay in the isolation center in Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao,” he added.
Sinarimbo said Western Mindanao Command chief, Lt. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana, has sent naval boats to bring the stranded BARMM residents to their home provinces. (PNA)
