PH says sorry to Malta

DFA Building / Wikipedia photo

MANILA – The Philippines issued an apology to the government of Malta after an overseas Filipino worker (OFWs) evacuated from Libya missed the flight to the Philippines and was left in their country.

“We have expressed our regrets for what happened through a note verbale to the government of Malta,” Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) spokesman Charles Jose said in a press briefing Monday.

“The Maltese authorities are investigating the case of Rodrigo Andres, the OFW evacuated from Libya who failed to board the second chartered flight from Malta last August 16. The Philippine government is extending its full cooperation in the investigation until its final resolution,” he said.

But Andres was not the only OFW suffering from civil wars in other countries. He was among the thousands who have already decided to evacuate their strife-torn situation.

Andres was among the more than 700 OFWs evacuated from strife-torn Libya by ship and brought to Malta where two Philippine Airlines (PAL) chartered flights flew them back to Manila.

“We have labor and welfare and DFA officials who can check his whereabouts at the airport,” Antonio told reporters.