Tolentino urges IATF: Ease the burden of Cebuanos

MANILA - Senator Francis 'Tol' N. Tolentino has expressed support over the so-called 'swab upon arrival' policy of the Cebu Provincial Government for passengers from international flights arriving at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA).

Tolentino said the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) should ease the burden of arriving passengers in Mactan who were mostly Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) from various parts of the globe--some of them were even displaced in their respective jobs abroad due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Dagdag pahirap lang po sa mga pauwi nating kababayan. Marami po sa kanila ay napilitan lamang umuwi dahil nawalan sila ng trabaho sa ibayong-dagat dahil sa pandemyang nararanasan natin sa kasalukuyan," said Tolentino.

Arriving OFWs and Filipinos based abroad need to undergo a mandatory RT-PCR COVID-19 swab test upon arrival in MCIA under Executive Order No. 17 issued recently by Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia.

The said policy of the Cebu Provincial Government led to the national government's action to divert all Cebu-bound international flights to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).

Tolentino, chair of the Senate Committee on Local Government stressed that diverting all Cebu-bound international flights will only add anxiety to arriving passengers especially to those displaced OFWs since staying for an extended time in Manila means additional expenses and waste of money for returning passengers.