DFA logs over 174,000 Filipinos repatriated due to COVID-19 pandemic
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Foreign Affairs said it has repatriated over 174,000 Filipinos since the onset of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
The agency in a press release Sunday announced that it brought home 9,671 overseas Filipinos last week, bringing the total number of those repatriated since February to 174,039.
"The DFA remains relentless in facilitating more flights, particularly from the Middle East. This week, the DFA brought home more than 7,500 of our nationals from the said region via 27 special commercial repatriation flights," the statement read.
The department further quantified that 11 of these flights arrived from the United Arab Emirates, seven flew in from Saudi Arabia, four were from Qatar, three from Bahrain and one each from Kuwait and Oman.
The department last week said it brought home 42,583 overseas Filipinos in August, an overwhelming majority of which flew in from the Middle East.
Meanwhile, of the total number of those repatriated, 61,716 or 35.46% are sea-based while 112,323 or 64.54% are land-based, the foreign affairs department confirmed.
"The return of Filipino seafarers also continues as the DFA facilitated the repatriation of more than 2,800 sea-based workers, including a Filipino fisherman who drifted to the waters of Central Sulawesi in April 2020," it said.
The agency added that it assisted "a cancer patient who finally arrived home in Manila on board a special commercial repatriation flight from Thailand last Wednesday."
In a separate statement released Sunday, the department said the cancer patient was among 76 Filipinos who flew home from Thailand on Wednesday, bringing the total number of those repatriated from the same country to 1,657.
"The DFA, together with its Philippine embassies, consulates and attached agencies around the world, remains fully committed to bringing home our nationals abroad amid the COVID-19 pandemic," the agency said. — Bella Perez-Rubio
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