510 OFWs return from Madagascar amid malaria threat

Some 510 overseas Filipino workers returned to the Philippines on Sunday from Madagascar amid the threat of malaria there. The 510 comprised the third batch of Filipinos to return from Madagascar due to the malaria threat, according to a report of dzBB radio Monday. Some 900 Filipinos have already returned from Madagascar because of the health threat, the report added. The officials of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) and Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) are discussing if the Filipinos will be placed under quarantine. DFA Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs special assistant Enrico Fos said some 2,000 more Filipinos are still in Madagascar. Last month, Philippine officials in Madagascar sent a team to a mining site there to investigate a possible malaria threat among Filipino workers in the area. The embassy personnel will meet with the firm's management and with Madagascar health officials on the reportedly increasing number of malaria cases. – VVP, GMA News