233 more OFWs displaced by virus crisis return home

233 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) from Indonesia, Kenya and Singapore arrive in Manila Sunday night. Photo courtesy of DFA OUMWA

MANILA, Philippines — Two hundred thirty-three overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) from Indonesia, Kenya and Singapore arrived in the Philippines Sunday night, bringing the total of OFWs repatriated amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic to 16,911.

In a statement on Monday, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said the latest batch of Filipino repatriates arrived  at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) on two separate flights.

The repatriated OFWs are land-based workers whose jobs were affected by the pandemic.

Their respective employers paid for their plane fare to Manila, the DFA added.

Upon their arrival, the repatriates underwent a mandatory health inspection conducted by the Bureau of Quarantine (BOQ) of the Department of Health (DOH).

They were later transported to designated facilities where they will undergo mandatory quarantine for 14 days.

The repatriation of the OFWs was facilitated by the Philippine embassies in Jakarta, Singapore, and Nairobi and the Philippine Consulate in Manado, Indonesia in coordination with DFA’s Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs and the employers of the OFWs.

“The DFA and its Foreign Service Posts remain steadfast to its mission to bring Filipinos home amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic,” the department said.

More than 1,200 overseas Filipinos are expected to return home on Monday, it added.

The latest figures from the DFA showed that a total of 984 Filipinos abroad have so far contracted the viral respiratory disease.

Five hundred eighty-five are still undergoing treatment, 259 have already recovered while 140 others have died, the DFA added.