Passengers wait for information about their flights at terminal 3 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Pasay, Metro Manila on January 1, 2023. Thousands of travelers were stranded at Philippine airports on January 1 after a “loss of communication” at the country’s busiest hub in Manila forced hundreds of flights to be cancelled, delayed or diverted. (Photo by KEVIN TRISTAN ESPIRITU / AFP)
MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) said the latest schedule of rebooked flights for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), whose flights were affected by the crippling malfunction in the air traffic control system on New Year’s Day, will be on Saturday, January 7.
DMW Undersecretary Hans Leo Cacdac on Wednesday said some 3,000 OFWs have so far been assisted by the department in terms of coordinating with their respective airlines and processing their flight rebooking.
Distributing food packs and lodging them in hotels for accommodation until they are slated to fly out are also among the other forms of assistance being granted to affected OFWS, he added.
“Sa ngayon, tinutulungan nalang po natin iyong continuing accommodation ng mga may rebooked flight. Sa aking observation, ang pinaka latest na may rebooked flights ay around Jan. 6 to 7,” Cacdac said in a Laging Handa public briefing.
(Right now, we’re helping them through continuing accommodation for those with rebooked flights. In my observation, the latest rebooked flights are around Jan. 6 to 7.)
The DMW official noted that rescheduling flights is no longer an issue for the affected OFWs, but he acknowledged that some of them may still need assistance in explaining the airspace chaos to their employers.
“Kung may agam-agam sila sa kanilang employers na nagtatanong kung bakit sila na-delay sa pag-arrive sa kanilang host countries, tutulungan po–may direktiba si Secretary [Susan Ople] sa kanilang labor attaches–na kausapin iyong mga employer na merong mga katanungan o pagkaklaro na kinakailangan dito sa nangyaring pag-ca-cancel ng flights,” Cacdac explained.
(If they still have worries about employers asking them why there were delays in their arrival to their host countries, Secretary Susan Ople has a directive for labor attaches to speak to the employers should they have any questions or clarifications related to the cancellation of flights.)
READ: DMW must ensure OFWs won’t lose jobs after air traffic system glitch, says solon
Hundreds of flights were disrupted on Sunday, leaving more than 65,000 passengers in limbo at airport terminals, due to “technical issues” that hit the air traffic management system of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP).
Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista said a problem in the uninterrupted power supply used by CAAP resulted in the loss of communication, radio, radar and internet at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.