Over 195,000 overseas Filipinos brought home amid pandemic — DFA

MANILA, Philippines — More than 195,000 Filipinos abroad have been repatriated back to the Philippines amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) reported Sunday.

The DFA said a total of 195,224 overseas Filipinos have been repatriated since February 2020. Of this number, 127,740 are land-based overseas Filipinos while 67,484 are sea-based.

“This week, two DFA-chartered flights from Saudi Arabia brought home 711 overseas Filipinos. Among them was OFW Rose Policarpio whose acquittal from murder charges was secured through the DFA’s steadfast assistance,” DFA said.

“Yesterday, the DFA welcomed an additional 317 Filipinos, including 12 children from Lebanon. They joined the DFA-chartered Philippine Airlines flight which also brought 5,000 boxes of relief goods for the Filipino community in Lebanon and medical supplies for Lebanese beneficiaries,” it added.

DFA said repatriation operations are ongoing and overseas Filipinos who wish to be repatriated must contact the nearest Philippine Embassy or the Consulate General in their area.

On Sunday, DFA reported five new cases of the COVID-19 among Filipinos abroad, bringing the total tally to 10,438.

DFA said of the total cases, 2,993 are undergoing treatment, 6,554 have recovered, or have been discharged, while 791 have died.

As per the different regions, 7,079 COVID-19-infected Filipinos are in the Middle East and Africa; 1,372 are in the Asia Pacific region; 1,170 are in Europe, and 808 are in the Americas.

/MUF