The government was offering free COVID-19 swab testing for returning OFWs, according to OWWA.
The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) on Tuesday said that the government was offering free COVID-19 swab testing for returning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).
In an interview on GMA Network’s “Unang Hirit”, OWWA Administrator Hans Leo Cacdac said that they had received reports that private laboratories were offering the service to returning OFWs for free.
According to Cacdac, Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade and Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III ordered an investigation into the operation of private laboratories inside the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).
READ ALSO: Philippine Red Cross Could Face Bankruptcy Over PhilHealth COVID-19 Swab Testing Debt, Says Gordon
Senator Richard Gordon, the Chairman of the Philippine Red Cross, earlier said that Filipinos arriving from abroad were supposedly being charged up to PHP 20,000 for a faster release of their COVID-19 swab test results.
The Philippine Red Cross stopped processing COVID-19 swab tests in their laboratories as the PhilHealth failed to settle its “ever-increasing outstanding balance”.
Despite the issue between PhilHealth and the Philippine Red Cross, Cacdac gave the assurance that medical technology personnel of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) would continue collecting COVID-19 swab samples from OFWs as they arrived in the airport.
Cacdac also said that the samples will be processed in 17 local and national laboratories.
“Tuloy po ang libreng proseso para sa kanila mula swab testing tapos processing ng specimen, hotel quarantine pati transport”, Cacdac said.
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