In President Duterte’s Address to the Nation, Secretary Tugade reported that over 14,000 seafarers had disembarked or joined their ships in the ports of Manila, Capinpin in Bataan, Subic Freeport and Cebu.
In addition to these, the secretary also announced that the one stop shop (OSS) centers that the department had setup in three airports: Clark, Pampanga, Manila and Mactan, Cebu, had served over 466,500 returning seafarers and overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).
Atty. Tugade also informed the President of the molecular laboratories and quarantine facilities that his department had put up.
He mentioned the molecular laboratories in Mactan, Cebu and in Clark. The Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) and the Philippine Coast Guard also have put up their own molecular laboratories. Each facility has the capacity to process between 1,500 and 3,000 tests a day.
Secretary Tugade also reported the quarantine facilities of the Transportation department: Eva Macapagal Terminal in Pier 15, one in Macatan, Cebu; in Capinpin Port set up by PPA; and in Taguig City by the PCG.
Also, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III reported to the President that his department would start paying the P30,000 each to children of OFWs who are in college. The scholarship fund would be sourced from the P1 billion fund that the President donated for that purpose.
