The repatriation of thousands of Filipino sailors has suffered a setback after the country closed all its airports to inbound flights for one week.
The country’s coronavirus quarantine capacity is reportedly “close to breaking point” following a surge in Filipino workers — many of them sailors — returning from abroad.
Local media reports say the sudden decision by the Philippine authorities has left hundreds of thousands of Filipinos marooned in more than 40 countries.
The ban came into force at 8am on 3 May and will remain in place until 9 May, the Department of Transport (DoT) said in a statement.
The Philippine government says it has placed some 20,000 returning citizens in quarantine, with 2,000 people said to be returning to the country daily.
“This measure to temporarily suspend international passenger arrivals will enable the government to decongest the processing of this number to a more manageable level, given the need to observe strict health protocols, and the fact that existing quarantine facilities are at full capacity,” the DoT said.
“The move is deemed necessary to ensure that our country will not experience a second wave of Covid-19 pandemic due to the increasing number of international passenger arrivals.
“It should be noted that most of our repatriated citizens are coming from countries which experienced significant Covid-19 outbreak.”
The DoT added that the ban would also allow the government’s front line agencies that are tasked to contain the spread of Covid-19 to “upgrade their testing and screening protocols, and expand the existing quarantine and treatment facilities and ensure a more comfortable quarantine arrangement for repatriated citizens”.
Some exceptions
Despite the suspension, some flights with returning seafarers have been allowed to land at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Manila.
On Sunday, three chartered flights arriving consecutively brought a total of 688 seafarers from six AIDA cruises from Frankfurt.
Meanwhile, a further 264 Filipino crew from the 110,000-gt Carnival Freedom (built 2007) and Carnival Valor (built 2004) from Barbados arrived on Monday.
“The chartered flight was granted exemption from the week-long temporary suspension of inbound international flights at NAIA,” the Department of Foreign Affairs said.
At the end of April, about 6,700 Filipino seafarers had been repatriated since February, according to government figures.
