Over 5,000 Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) will receive their first jab of COVID-19 vaccine from August 18 to September 2 as the Marino Partylist provides an OFW Vaccination Site for all departing, returning, and repatriated sea-based and land-based overseas workers residing in Davao City.
The Partylist heeded the call of Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte to provide an express vaccination lane for OFWs to expedite their deployment. The remittance of OFWs is a key driver of the Philippine economy amid the global economic downturn brought by the COVID-19 outbreak.
“We value the contribution of our OFWs to the country. Now that they need our assistance, MARINO Partylist immediately assisted the city government by providing a vaccination site, medical health workers and personnel, and by leading the information drive of this program. We expect that this will help OFWs in processing their applications for deployment abroad,” said Marino Partylist First Representative Sandro Gonzalez.
This initiative is in partnership with the Office of Mayor Sara Duterte, Department of Health (DOH), Public Employment Service Office of Davao (PESO), the Maritime Industry Authority-Region XI( MARINA-XI), Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), Office of Senator Bato Dela Rosa, and other local officials.
On August 11, the Marino Partylist and its partner agencies launched the online pre-registration for the vaccination program which is open to departing, returning, and repatriated OFWs in Davao City as long as they can provide valid documents required by MARINA, POEA, and OWWA to verify their status.
“As to the vaccine brand, we negotiated with the city government and with Dr. Josephine Villafuerte, Head of the City Health Office, to prioritize us with the allocation of Western-approved vaccines such as Pfizer, Moderna, Janssen, and AstraZeneca. We also participated in a series of meetings with our partners to ensure a smooth-flowing vaccination for our OFWs,” said Marino Partylist Second Representative Macnell Lusotan.
This vaccination will be carried out at the Matina Town Square and will run for 10 days, excluding holidays and weekends. Qualified registrants will receive a confirmation text from the Partylist regarding their schedules.
“We have been consistent in pushing for the inoculation of our sea-based and land-based OFWs. Davao City is only one of several areas we have supported and assisted nationwide. With the roll-out of vaccines for our seafarers, we look forward to the increase of their deployment by the end of the year,” added Rep. Sandro Gonzalez.
