Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III (File photo) MANILA - The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on Monday clarified that the recommendation to include a nation in the 'green list' comes from health experts. In a virtual forum, DOLE Secretary Silvestre Bello III said the opinion of the medical sector will be given weight regarding the inclusion of countries to the said list, where quarantine protocols for Filipinos who came from these nations are relaxed. "Of course, heavy consideration will be given to the opinion or recommendation of the health sectors, our medical experts. That's what we follow...because they are the ones who know which to qualify for," he said. Under the updated testing and quarantine rules issued by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) on Oct. 15, fully vaccinated overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) or non-OFWs from green states have the option to undergo a facility-based quarantine until the release of their negative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test result taken in the quarantine facility upon arrival in the country. They may also opt not to undergo quarantine, so long as they get a negative RT-PCR test result within 72 hours prior to departure from the country of origin. However, they are also advised to self-monitor for any symptoms until their 14th day in the country. From Oct. 16 to 31, those included in the country's green list are Algeria, American Samoa, Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cayman Islands, Chad, China (Mainland), Comoros, Republic of the Congo, Cook Islands, Eritrea, Falkland Islands (Malvinas), Gibraltar, Hong Kong (Special Administrative Region of China), Kiribati, Madagascar, Mali, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Montserrat, Nauru, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Niue, North Korea, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Poland, Saba (Special Municipality of the Kingdom of the Netherlands), Saint Helena, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Samoa, Sierra Leone, Sint Eustatius, Solomon Islands, Sudan, Syria, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Tokelau, Tonga, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, and Yemen. On the other hand, Labor Attache Manuel Dimaano of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO)-Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE) reported that the host country has vaccinated 90 percent of its population. "The situation here in the UAE is very peaceful. The response of the UAE government is good when it comes to the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic. Most of the residents here, UAE citizens are vaccinated, I think 90 percent, and those who have been vaccinated have also started booster shots," he added. Bello and other labor officials are in UAE, the host country for the Ministerial Meeting of labor ministers from other nations in the region to be held from October 25 to 27. Among the agenda of the gathering is to discuss the welfare and safety of all migrant workers. (PNA) }