NOTE: This story was first published in The Bohol Chronicle’s Sunday print edition.

No less than 6,000 Boholanos working abroad might decide to come home if the pandemic Coronavirus will extend for several months.

Rep. Edgar Chatto who expressed alarm on this possibility called the Department of Foregin Affairs (DFA) to check on their advance policy in the event this exodus of Boholano OFWS might come home.

Chatto said per conversation with DFA Undersecretary Sarah Arriola, the guideline set is not to allow these OFWs to go straight to their respective provinces.

“They will be required to submit for a 14-day quarantine in Manila, and in Bohol in the case of the 6,000 contract workers,” UsecArriola told the solon during a phone conversation last Wednesday.

The query made by Chatto came after several quarters in the province expressed alarm on the safety of having these workers here without the necessary health clearances especially that they come from various countries.

Meanwhile, Chatto likewise informed the Chronicle yesterday that for stranded Boholanos in the various provinces, the Department of Interior and Local Government has already set a policy for them to “stay where they are.”

In the case of the provincial government, an initial amount of P620,000 was ordered released by Gov. Art Yap to be sent to the stranded Boholanos whose profiling is being conducted by a team at the Capitol.

Chatto said DILG Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya and DILG Regional Director Leo Trovela  both confirmed the government’s policy for them to “stay where they are.”

However, he said the governor has asked each municipality and barangay to identify quarantine and isolation facilities when the persons concerned  start coming home.

The facilities are now being identified ready in the event Boholanos from abroad and anywhere in the country will opt to come home, Chatto concluded.