A total of 4,683 overseas Filipinos in Sabah, Malaysia have yet to return home nearly one year after the national government began the repatriation process for the stranded individuals as a result of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, who leads the government's efforts in the repatriation of the affected Filipinos in Sabah, told President Duterte during his pre-recorded public address on Monday night, June 28, that some local government units (LGUs) are not ready to accept the repatriates due to rising cases in Mindanao.
"Hindi pa makabalik dahil ayaw muna ng mga tumatanggap like Zamboanga City, Jolo, and Tawi-Tawi dahil medyo tumataas 'yung mga kaso nila doon (They cannot return just yet because Zamboanga City, Jolo, and Tawi-Tawi are not accepting them due to a surge in cases there)," Lorenzana said.
The government started repatriating overseas Filipinos who have been stranded in Sabah due to travel restrictions brought about by the pandemic on June 30, 2020.
As of May 22, 2021, Lorenzana said a total of 3,168 overseas Filipinos have already been assisted and sent back home by the national government.
Lorenzana said they were continuously coordinating with the concerned LGUs to allow the return of the overseas Filipinos.
Meanwhile, a total of 1,237,186 overseas Filipinos who were affected by the pandemic in other parts of the world have already been assisted and sent back home by the government.
These include 591,956 land-based overseas Filipino workers (OFWs); 413,929 sea-based OFWs; and 231,301 overseas Filipinos or individuals other than OFWs who were stranded abroad including tourists, students, and foreign nationals who have permanent residence in the Philippines, among others.