The Department of Foreign Affairs said Monday that 8,831 overseas Filipinos were flown home during the second week of November as part of the continuing government repatriation program related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This brings the total number of repatriated OFs to 254,785 since the DFA began its COVID-related repatriation efforts last February.
Data released by the DFA said more than 87 percent or 7,715 of this week’s repatriates arrived from the Middle East, while 611 overseas Filipinos came home from Asia-Pacific, 503 from Europe, and two from the Americas.
Last week, the DFA chartered a Philippine Airlines flight to Guangzhou which brought home 86 distressed overseas Filipinos from various regions in China, including a medical stretcher case.
The Philippine Embassy in Beijing and its Consulates General in Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Xiamen gathered and grouped the repatriates in their respective jurisdictions to Guangzhou where they boarded the chartered flight en route to Manila last Nov. 11.
The department also assisted in the return of 151 Filipino deportees from Malaysia who landed in Zamboanga City last Thursday.
Last week’s repatriation flights likewise included three overseas Filipinos with chronic illness from UAE, Bahrain, and Oman, as well as stranded and distressed Filipinos from Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Vietnam, and Japan.
With the continuous effect of the COVID-19 pandemic being felt across the world, the DFA expects to repatriate more than 90,000 overseas Filipinos before the end of the year.
“The DFA remains fully committed to safely bringing home our OFs from anywhere in the world amid the ongoing pandemic,” it said.