DOLE: OFWs can enter PH despite travel ban

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III clarified that returning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) from countries with cases of the new COVID-19 variant can still enter the Philippines.

President Rodrigo Duterte allowed OFWs to return home but they must undergo a mandatory 14-day quarantine, even if their initial test results are negative.

Approximately 60,000 to 100,000 OFWs are expected to return to the country.

The travel ban covers travelers from 20 countries where the new variant was found, but relatives and other balikbayans of these returning OFWs are not exempted.