(Eagle News) — The Department of Foreign Affairs on Friday, May 14, repatriated over 100 Filipinos from China.
In a statement, the DFA said the 155 overseas Filipinos arrived from Nanjing via Philippine Airlines flight PR8430 at 10:30 p.m. at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
The department said most of the recent arrivals were assisted with their overstaying fees in the country by the Philippine Embassy in Beijing and the Philippine Consulates General in Chongqing, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Xiamen.
Also repatriated were the remains of some Filipinos.
“We at DFA-OUMWA continually ensure that Filipinos abroad are able to come home despite the travel restrictions in place through close coordination with our Foreign Service Posts throughout the world, host governments and airline companies,” Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs Sarah Lou Arriola said.
This is the sixth flight chartered by the DFA for Filipinos stranded in China.
Of the six, four were chartered from the mainland while two were from Macau.
The flights were chartered due to the lack of commercial flights brought about by COVID-19-related travel disruptions.
Since the start of its repatriation efforts in the beginning of the pandemic in February 2020, the department said it has repatriated a total of 400,958 Filipinos.
