CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – Gov. Dennis “Delta” Pineda served notice Sunday that the Balik Pinas, Balik Pampanga program has been suspended for overseas Filipinos coming from 27 flagged countries in a bid to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus strain in the country.
In a post in his social media page, Pineda said the provincial government will cease entertaining requests for the transport, swab tests, and handling of quarantine for the Kapampangans who have stayed in the 27 flagged countries. This, he said, is in compliance with the memorandum from the One Stop Shop (OSS) for Management of Returning Overseas Filipinos issued on January 8.
The OSS will temporarily handle Kapampangans who will be coming in from the 27 flagged countries and territories, namely the United Kingdom, Ireland, Japan, Australia, Israel, Netherlands, Hong Kong, Switzerland, France, Spain, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Lebanon, Singapore, Sweden, South Korea, South Africa, Denmark, Canada, Brazil, Portugal, United States, India, Finland, Norway, and Jordan.
Pineda said that Kapampangans flying in from countries not included in the list, can still avail themselves of the Capitol services of processing their quarantine, swab tests, and transport needs.
To date, a total of 2,551 Kapampangans have benefitted from the program and 2,477 overseas workers have since returned to their families safely and coronavirus-free.
The “Balik Pinas, Balik Pampanga” program fast-tracks the processing of repatriated Kapampangan overseas Filipino workers, including non-working individuals, to their families after months of being stranded across the globe. It has received accolades from national leaders and grateful appreciation from those benefitted and their families.
