112 stranded Pinoys flown to Puerto Rico

Ten days after Category 5 Hurricane “Irma” hit the Caribbean islands, 112 stranded Filipinos were airlifted to Puerto Rico where a government-chartered flight would take them back  to the Philippines.

The Philippine Embassy in Washington on Monday said that 90 Filipinos  from the British Virgin Islands had arrived in Puerto Rico’s capital, San Juan, while 22 others were expected to arrive on Tuesday.

Two other groups of Filipinos from the Anguilla and St. Maarten islands were expected to leave for Puerto Rico on Tuesday.

From Puerto Rico, the Filipinos from the three islands will catch a chartered flight to the Philippines, the Embassy said.

The Department of Foreign Affairs last week said that 236 Filipinos had asked to be repatriated from the islands, which were reeling from massive destruction wrought by Irma which slammed into the Caribbean  on Sept. 8. —Dona Z. Pazzibugan