MANILA, Philippines — There are some 250 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Hong Kong who are awaiting repatriation, Philippine Consul General in Hong Kong Raly Tejada said Wednesday.
In a televised briefing, Tejada said the consulate is already coordinating with the Department of Foreign Affairs to provide the stranded OFWs with flights going home.
“Meron naman pong naghihintay na 250 po na kababayan natin na stranded sa Hong Kong. Yun po ang ginagawan natin ng paraan na sana mabigyan sila ng pagkakataon na makauwi sa ating bayan sapagkat patuloy po ang pagkakansela ng mga flights mula Hong Kong patungong Manila,” Tejada said.
(There are 250 of our countrymen stranded in Hong Kong. We are trying to do something about this to give them a chance to return to our country since there is continuous cancellation of flights from Hong Kong to Manila.)
“Kaya ginagawan po natin ito ng paraan sa pamamagitan ng pakikipagusap po sa ating Department of Foreign Affairs na sya naman pong tumutulong upang tayo po ay makakuha ng flights,” he added.
(We are coordinating with the Department of Foreign Affairs that is helping us get flights for our countrymen.)
Tejada said the stranded OFWs in Hong Kong were those whose jobs were affected by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
“Meron pong economic downturn so yung mga employer din po nila, medyo nawalan din po ng trabaho dito. Ang iba ay napilitang umalis ng Hong Kong or ang iba ay naterminate na rin po ng kanilang mga empleyado,” he explained.
(The economic downturn also forced some of their employers to lose their jobs. The others had to leave Hong Kong while some were terminated by their employers.)
Tejada said the 250 OFWs might return to the Philippines within the week or next week.
There are at least 1,100 cases of COVID-19 in Hong Kong, with 5 recorded fatalities.