155 OFs return from China – DFA
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) brought home 155 overseas Filipinos yesterday from China.
The repatriates arrived from Nanjing via Philippine Airlines flight PR8430 at 10:30 p.m. at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) through the assistance of the Office of the
Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs (OUMWA) and Philippine Foreign Service Posts in China.
They were immediately briefed on the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) quarantine protocols upon arrival at the NAIA.
Most of the recent arrivals were assisted with their overstaying fees in the country by the Philippine Embassy in Beijing and the various Philippine Consulates General in Chongqing, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Xiamen.
The flight also repatriated the cremated remains of late overseas Filipinos.
“We at DFA-OUMWA continually ensure that Filipinos abroad are able to come home despite the travel restrictions in place through close coordination with our Foreign Service Posts throughout the world, host governments and airline companies,” said Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs Sarah Lou Arriola.
This is the sixth flight chartered by the DFA for Filipinos stranded in China, with four flights chartered from the mainland and two from Macau, due to the lack of commercial flights brought about by COVID-19-related travel disruptions.
Since the start of its repatriation efforts in the beginning of the pandemic in February 2020 up to May 13, 2021, the DFA has successfully repatriated a total of 400,958 Filipinos from various parts of the world.
