MAYOR BENG Climaco said the local government will continue to assist not only locally stranded individuals or LSIs from Zamboanga, but those who are from neighboring provinces who are in distress.
“Our battle cry - Heal the Sick, Feed the Hungry - transcends borders as we assist not only our own people, but our neighbours who are in distress as well,” she said after seeing a group of LSIs from the provinces who arrived here recently on board a ferry from Manila all hungry and exhausted.
The LSIs were later brought to the Travellers' Hub at the back of City Hall and fed and attended by the local government of Zamboanga while they wait for representatives of their own government.
The local government’s LSI Management Team is being handled by the Zamboanga City Tourism Office under Sarita Hernandez.
It recently facilitated the arrival of 185 LSIs through the “Hatid Tulong” program. Of the total number of those who arrived, only 18 are from Zamboanga City while the rest are from Sulu and other neighbouring provinces.
The LSIs were among those who stayed at the Libingan ng mga Bayani in Fort Bonifacio and most, if not all, sought government aid after losing their jobs in Manila due to the pandemic.
Climaco has ordered Hernandez and social workers to attend to the needs of the LSIs and returning overseas workers.
President Rodrigo Duterte has repeatedly appealed to all local governments to accept LSIs and repatriated overseas Filipino workers who are returning to their respective home provinces. “Ang pakiusap lang na tanggapin lang ‘yung mga LGUs — tanggapin nila ‘yung mga tao, pakiusap,” he said, adding, local officials do not have the power to deny them their right to return to their homes and love ones because it would just create problems for them.
The presence of Covid-19 asymptomatic individuals to the batches of LSIs going home could not be a ground to restrict their return to their places of origin, Duterte said.
“You do not even know if he’s contaminated or not. If he’s not, then you still refuse him tapos magkaroon kahit sabi mo wala. Maloloko. You’ll run into a gamut of so many problems. Even if they are actually contaminated, if they want to go home maybe to get well or to die there, hindi mo ma-deny sa Pilipino ‘yan,” he said.
The Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases headed by Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said they have sent home a total of 56,000 overseas Filipino workers to the provinces. And also expects the arrival of some 40,000 more from different parts of the world in two months, Lorenzana added, citing reports from the Department of Labor.
He said thousands of LSIs are still stranded in Metro Manila awaiting their return schedules. (Zamboanga Post)
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| A group of LSIs, mostly from other provinces, wait as they are being processed by the local government of Zamboanga shortly after their arrival from Manila. |
Climaco, who is a known religious woman and one of the most respected leaders in the South, said LSIs bound for the neighbouring provinces will get assistance from the City Government as they wait for their respective government to fetch and bring them home.
“Our battle cry - Heal the Sick, Feed the Hungry - transcends borders as we assist not only our own people, but our neighbours who are in distress as well,” she said after seeing a group of LSIs from the provinces who arrived here recently on board a ferry from Manila all hungry and exhausted.
The LSIs were later brought to the Travellers' Hub at the back of City Hall and fed and attended by the local government of Zamboanga while they wait for representatives of their own government.
The local government’s LSI Management Team is being handled by the Zamboanga City Tourism Office under Sarita Hernandez.
It recently facilitated the arrival of 185 LSIs through the “Hatid Tulong” program. Of the total number of those who arrived, only 18 are from Zamboanga City while the rest are from Sulu and other neighbouring provinces.
The LSIs were among those who stayed at the Libingan ng mga Bayani in Fort Bonifacio and most, if not all, sought government aid after losing their jobs in Manila due to the pandemic.
Climaco has ordered Hernandez and social workers to attend to the needs of the LSIs and returning overseas workers.
President Rodrigo Duterte has repeatedly appealed to all local governments to accept LSIs and repatriated overseas Filipino workers who are returning to their respective home provinces. “Ang pakiusap lang na tanggapin lang ‘yung mga LGUs — tanggapin nila ‘yung mga tao, pakiusap,” he said, adding, local officials do not have the power to deny them their right to return to their homes and love ones because it would just create problems for them.
The presence of Covid-19 asymptomatic individuals to the batches of LSIs going home could not be a ground to restrict their return to their places of origin, Duterte said.
“You do not even know if he’s contaminated or not. If he’s not, then you still refuse him tapos magkaroon kahit sabi mo wala. Maloloko. You’ll run into a gamut of so many problems. Even if they are actually contaminated, if they want to go home maybe to get well or to die there, hindi mo ma-deny sa Pilipino ‘yan,” he said.
The Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases headed by Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said they have sent home a total of 56,000 overseas Filipino workers to the provinces. And also expects the arrival of some 40,000 more from different parts of the world in two months, Lorenzana added, citing reports from the Department of Labor.
He said thousands of LSIs are still stranded in Metro Manila awaiting their return schedules. (Zamboanga Post)
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