This Week in Central Luzon (April 17 to 23, 2021)

As part of health and safety protocols, Clark International Airport announced the complete list of essential forms that must be filled out upon arrival in the Philippines from an international flight. Below are the following forms that must be accomplished according to the traveler’s status:

1. Health declaration card

2. Case Investigation Form (eCIF) for Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWS - land-based and sea-based)

3. Case Investigation Form (eCIF) for non-OFWs and foreign nationals

4. Case Investigation Form (CIF) Additional form to be filled up by all passengers (must be printed)

5. Affidavit of Undertaking (AOU)

6. Printed/saved copy of QR code sent to passenger’s email

More details and step-by-step information are available at Clark International Airport’s Facebook page and its website, https://clarkinternationalairport.com/international/ [1].

Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) opened an information and support system to help displaced workers in Subic Bay Freeport Zone (SBFZ) find new jobs and develop new knowledge to get re-employed. The SBMA help desk is managed by SBMA Labor Department’s Manpower Services Division personnel. It is located at the former Landbank office near the Freeport’s Rizal Gate.

SBMA Chairman and Administrator Wilma Eisma said that the help desk is a vital tool in providing means of livelihood for the unemployed, workers who were retrenched, or those put on forced leave , especially those from the neighboring communities of Olongapo City, Zambales, and Bataan. She also mentioned that Subic workers lost 5,510 jobs, Zambales workers lost 1,839 jobs, and Bataan workers lost 899 jobs last 2020 due to the effects of COVID-19.

SBMA partnered up with the Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Labor and Employment, and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority for the initiative. The SBMA help desk will endorse the workers’ applications to companies in need of manpower or refer them to agencies for skills training. Workers may send their application by filling up the profiling form (https://bit.ly/3mVvBTB) or contact the SBMA Labor Department via landline 047-252-4273 or 4073. [2]

Subic Bay Freeport Zone opened a new Temporary Treatment and Monitoring Facility (TTMF) as part of the national government’s plan of incorporating a wellness facility for COVID-19 patients. Health Assistant Secretary Ma. Francia Laxamana said that the Manila Times College of Subic, the site of the TTMF, prepared activities that will help the patients cope with stress and anxiety while they are in quarantine.

Laxamana added that Manila Times President and CEO Dante Ang II was the one who offered to utilize the facility as a temporary treatment and monitoring space to help decongest hospitals in Metro Manila. The facility also aims to boost the safety protocol in place and reduce the exposure of the general public to COVID-19. Resources were pooled by the Department of Health and National Task Force against COVID-19 to create the quarantine facility for asymptomatic and mild COVID-19 cases.

The new TTMF covers a total of 11.6 hectares with a capacity of 330 beds. It can cater to patients from North and Central Luzon, National Capital Region, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal. [3 & 4]

Go to Yoorekka for more health articles and updates on travel restrictions in Subic and Central Luzon.