THE Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) brought home 347 distressed Filipinos from Saudi Arabia aboard a special repatriation flight it chartered through the Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs (OUMWA).
The plane arrived late evening on June 20, 2021, bringing home the stranded overseas Filipino workers (OFW).
The group of repatriates included one stretcher-bound patient, five pregnant women, one whom is visually-impaired, and five who are wheelchair-borne.
Financial assistance of P10,000 was earlier processed for qualified beneficiaries, to be given upon their release from quarantine.
āHearing the cries of our kababayan for help, and faithful to our sworn duty to help every Filipino in distress anywhere in the world, we will exhaust all efforts to bring all of them safely homeā said Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Migrant Workersā Affairs Sarah Lou Y. Arriola.
The beneficiaries expressed their joy over the financial assistance, saying it would boost their efforts to rebuild their lives.
The repatriates will undergo stringent facility-based quarantine provided by the Philippine government, in conformity with the health protocols set by the Department of Health (DOH)-Bureau of Quarantine (BOQ) and shall be subjected to RT-PCR Testing for Covid-19.
The Philippine government upholds the One-Country Team Approach (OCTA) by continuously collaborating and cooperating with the DOH, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the Philippine Coast Guard to ensure the safety and welfare of overseas Filipinos.