35 Filipinos stranded in Myanmar join special relief flight to return to PHL

Thirty-five stranded Filipinos in Myanmar joined a special relief flight back home on Thursday, the DFA said on Friday, June 26./DFA/

(Eagle News)–Thirty-five stranded Filipinos in Myanmar joined the special repatriation flight  organized by the Philippine Embassy in Yangon and the Myanmar Embassy in Manila in coordination with Myanmar Airways International to return home.

The relief flight departed Yangon International Airport for Manila on June 25.

According to the Department of Foreign Affairs, most of the passengers were “adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and could no longer afford to continue staying in Myanmar.”

It said one of the passengers had been stranded on board M/V Serene Theodora since May 9.

“The (Philippine) Embassy requested approval of the Myanmar government to allow the stranded Filipino to join the flight as soon as the ship docked in Yangon. Coordination by the Embassy with the ship’s crew ensured that its arrival in Yangon would be just in time for the repatriation flight,” the DFA said.

According to the DFA, the embassy  briefed the repatriates of the latest arrival protocols at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

An estimated 140 Myanmar nationals stranded in the Philippines joined a separate return flight to Yangon, which departed NAIA on the same day.