After serving as peacekeepers for the United Nations in Liberia, more than 100 Filipinos have finally arrived in the Philippines on Wednesday, November 12. However, before they can finally join their respective families, they have to spend 21 days in quarantine in an isolated and uninhabited island.
The peacekeepers already quarantined themselves in Liberia by limiting their movements to their offices and barracks. They have also abstained from interacting with the community when the president Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III requested for their pullout sometime in August.
They arrived in Manila, the country's capital, through Villamor Air Base in a chartered plane. Although families and friends were there to personally welcome them back, they had to be content seeing their returning loved ones on screens inside a building.
After they have deplaned, they immediately boarded a bus and took a boat ride to Caballo Island, a few miles away from Manila Bay and an island that is also a designated military outpost.
The peacekeepers will be staying on bunk beds set up inside pitched tents. Although they don't have any access to WiFi, they are allowed to participate in different recreational activities.
Aside from the peacekeepers, 1 jail officer and over 20 cops accompany them. They hope that before Christmas, all the troops would have completed their quarantine.
However, as of Friday, November 14, one of the peacekeepers has complained of fever with fatigue and chills. He's immediately sent to an undisclosed hospital for treatment and has already gone through standard Ebola tests. The results are still pending. So far, the Department of Health has still considered the country Ebola free. All peacekeepers, before they departed, were cleared of the virus.
The Ebola outbreak is killing thousands of locals in West Africa as well as hundreds of health workers. There are also reported cases in the United States, Great Britain, and Spain. So far, Asia still remains free of the virus.