Sugarcane millers to shoulder Covid-19 test of returning sacadas

Sugarcane millers will shoulder the expense for the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test of sugar migrant workers (sacadas) who will be returning to Negros Occidental from Antique province.

“The milling season for sugarcane in Negros Occidental is about to start this September that is why the millers would again need workers,” said Antique Provincial Development Officer III Guilly Clemente of the Provincial Planning and Development Office (PPDO) in an interview.

He said they met with millers’ representatives and Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE)-Antique director Melissa Navarra last Aug. 20 where they discussed the requirements for the RT-PCR test and other health protocols.

“For the sacadas who are members of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PHIC), their RT-PCR will be charged with the PHIC,” he said.

Millers will be the ones to pay for the RT-PCR of those who are not PHIC members. No deduction shall be made from their wages.

The test will be conducted upon their arrival in Negros Occidental.

Clemente said that a letter of acceptance will be issued by the provincial government to those who will be allowed entry to Negros Occidental based on the list that will be submitted to the office of Governor Eugenio Jose V. Lacson.

The requirement was stipulated in the guidelines for returning migratory sugarcane workers dated August 6.

The guidelines require sacadas to undergo the mandatory quarantine until their RT-PCR test results are released. Positive coronavirus disease 2019 cases shall be transferred to the provincial quarantine facilities.
During the meeting, the millers were also told that their barracks should strictly adhere to the physical distancing, with one-meter space in between bunk beds and with only 50 percent occupancy.

From May 18 until June 10, the provincial government here has recorded 1,698 sacadas who came home to Antique after the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) was lifted.

“There are sacadas who would now like to return to Negros Occidental to work in the sugar fields there,” Clemente said.

He said that Antique Governor Rhodora J. Cadiao, in her memorandum last August 11, tasked the PPDO through the Sacada Desk to facilitate the required documents for the returning sacadas.*.