Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA). Photo from their Facebook page
MANILA, Philippines — More than 405,000 overseas Filipinos have been repatriated to the Philippines as nations continue to grapple with the coronavirus pandemic, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) reported Thursday.
During the House hearing on the situation of overseas Filipinos amid the pandemic, the DFA reported that 405,769 overseas Filipinos had been repatriated as of July 28.
Of this number, 300,163 are land-based overseas Filipinos, while 105,606 are sea-based overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).
The DFA said nearly 5,000 more overseas Filipinos would be repatriated in August coming from the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, Indonesia, and India.
Meanwhile, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said it had assisted 518,647 OFWs under its DOLE-Abot Kamay ang Pagtulong sa OFWs program, amounting to P5.25 billion.
Data from DOLE show that as of July 28, a total of 23,121 OFWs have been infected with COVID-19. Of this number, 12,528 have recovered and 1,181 have succumbed to the disease.