The DOT Has Converted Over 11,500 Hotel Rooms for OFWs Quarantine
The Department of Tourism (DOT) is working with 209 hotels to quarantine homebound overseas Filipino workers and Business Processing Outsourcing employees. A total of 24,836 hotel rooms have been secured to accommodate both groups.
Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo Puyat confirmed the news early in April after rallying the support of the private sector for the initiative.
"The overwhelming show of support of the hotel sector to our government's call to make their rooms available to OFWs should somehow ease their anxiety, having to wait for another two weeks till they eventually reunite with their families. Meanwhile, we can expect more rooms as the DOT continues to encourage our private partners to extend the world-renowned Filipino hospitality to our kababayans," she says.
Of the 209 participating hotels, 160 are located in Metro Manila. The rest are in various regions around the country, including the Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley, and Central Luzon, to name a few. Puyat adds that additional hotel rooms may be reserved as needed.
The initiative was arranged in partnership with the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), the Department of Labor (DOLE), the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), and the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF). The costs of the accommodation will be shouldered by the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), as well as other national government agencies.
OFWs displaced by the COVID-19 pandemic have also been given P10,000 in aid through DOLE's Abot Kamay ang Pagtulong (AKAP) program.
