The Palace assures that the Philippine government, through the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO), is helping the overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who tested positive for COVID-19 and reportedly terminated by their employers in Hong Kong.

Reports also said some Filipino OFWs could not be hospitalized immediately because hospitals were almost full. This resulted in them sleeping in public areas because the OFWs had no place to stay, Migrante International said.

"Our POLO immediately provided them with food, hygiene kits and power banks to allow them to communicate whie waiting for calls from the Center for Health Protection and HK Labour Department," Acting Presidential Spokesperson and Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said on Monday.

"Our POLO coordinated with a non-government organization to provide an isolation facility to accommodate several of our OFWs," he said.

"It also coordinated with the HK Labour Department, which set up an isolation facility for our kababayans, pending admission to the quarantine facility, apart from providing transportation arrangements," he added.

Nograles said "POLO has also provided $200 for aftercare financial assistance to those who recovered from COVID-19."

"Of our 28 kababayans in Hongkong who tested positive for COVID-19, as of February 19, five have already recovered, and three of whom are back to their respective employers," he said.

"The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) will also provide US $200 for each COVID-positive OFW," he added.

Last week, Migrante International, a global alliance of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and their families around the world, reported that "several OFWs in Hong Kong who were tested positive with COVID- 19 were terminated, abandoned and forced to stay in an open area inside a park under cold weather conditions."

Migrante International said "OFWs that face sudden loss of jobs normally rely on the assistance of non-government institutions due to the lack of welfare services by the Philippine government representatives in HK".

"This situation is even more aggravated with the miserable state of COVID-positive migrant workers who have no access to NGOs or individuals for assistance," it noted.

Philippine Consul General to Hong Kong Raly Tejada told dzBB earlier Monday that three to ten Filipino OFWs were terminated by their employers.

The OFWs can file a complaint before the labor tribunal in Hong Kong, said Tejada. Robina Asido/DMS