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MANILA — Several repatriated migrant workers who allegedly escaped from quarantine facilities might have actually stayed put there and only went "missing" due to a mismatch in databases, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration said Monday.

The Philippine Coast Guard said Sunday some overseas Filipino workers failed to complete their 2-week quarantine and left before getting their positive coronavirus test results.

The OFWs may have registered under a slightly different name when the Philippine Red Cross screened them for the virus, compared to their name in the government database, said OWWA Administrator Hans Leo Cacdac.

"Halimbawa, Pedro Cruz, hindi mahanap sa database pero it could be a case na Pedro Dela Cruz o Pedro Veracruz na hindi namin ma-match iyong pangalan," he told DZMM. "Ibig sabihin, iyong tao posibleng nasa quarantine facility pa rin pero iyong pangalan hindi ma-locate sa database."

(For example, we can't find Pedro Cruz because we can't match his name Pedro Dela Cruz or Pedro Veracruz in out database. This means that the person might still be at the quarantine facility, but their name cannot be found in the database.)

OWWA last week found 22 of 27 allegedly missing OFWs supposed to be in quarantine. It is still looking for 5 migrant workers, said Cacdac.

It was not immediately clear whether or not these 5 workers were the same ones that the PCG reported as missing.

Cacdac said he would get more information from the Coast Guard later Monday.