Not all Filipinos in Myanmar want to be repatriated despite the “catastrophic” state of its medical facilities and encouragement from the Philippine government to return home, according to the country’s Ambassador to Myanmar Eduardo Kapunan Jr. Kapunan said there were some 500 Filipinos in Myanmar and some 59 volunteered to return home on an Aug. 3 repatriation flight. Kapunan said the embassy had been telling Filipinos it was better for them to return to the Philippines before the World Health Organization declared the situation in Myanmar to have worsened, lest they be subjected to more stringent quarantine rules in the Philippines. While there are around 500 Filipinos in Myanmar, only 160 have registered with the embassy, he said.
—LEILA B. SALAVERRIA
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