DFA sustains repatriation efforts despite MECQ

FILE: Personnel from the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) assist overseas Filipino workers heading home to their respective provinces during a send-off at the departure area of Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 2 on Tuesday (May 26, 2020). (PNA photo by Avito C. Dalan)

MANILA – The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) was relentless in its repatriation efforts despite the MECQ as it brought home an additional 8,924 overseas Filipinos (OFs) this week.

This brings the total number of repatriated Filipinos to 124,717. Of the total, 39.8 percent (49,655 OFs) are sea-based while 60.

2 percent (75,062 OFs) are land-based.

The DFA reaffirmed its commitment to bring home our overseas Filipinos from the UAE as the deadline to leave the country, for those with expired tourist visas, drew near.

This week, the DFA repatriated 3,660 overseas Filipinos from the UAE through 13 special commercial repatriation flights and one DFA-chartered flight.

The DFA also welcomed the return of 2,349 seafarers from all over the world including Bangladesh, Italy, Spain, Japan, Singapore, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago.

Through the help of its various Foreign Service Posts and the Filipino community abroad, the DFA was able to facilitate the repatriation of stranded overseas Filipinos from remote locations such as Mongolia, Palau and the island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean.

The DFA is also working closely with its embassies in Beirut and Tehran on the immediate repatriation of the distressed Filipino nationals in Lebanon and Uzbekistan.

“The DFA remains unwavering in its commitment to bringing home our distressed nationals abroad wherever they are in the world,” the statement added. (PR)