More than 300 overseas Filipinos were recently brought back home from Malaysia and Macau through the Philippines' repatriation program, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Wednesday, Dec. 22.

A total of 113 distressed Filipinos from Malaysia arrived in the country on Dec. 18.

It was disclosed that they requested assistance from the Philippine Embassy in Malaysia for their immediate repatriation due to financial constraints and difficulties brought about by the coronavirus pandemic.

"Many Filipinos here in Malaysia continue to be affected by the economic impact of the pandemic, even as Malaysia’s economy has been slowly opening up since the third quarter of this year,” Philippine Ambassador to Malaysia Charles Jose said.

“The embassy will not cease in its efforts to provide appropriate assistance to them, including in their repatriation,” he added.

The Filipino envoy also said that all passengers on the special repatriation flight were assisted by the embassy in their mandatory RT-PCR test prior to departure, as well as in their applications for exit passes under the Recalibration Repatriation Program (RRP) of the Malaysian Immigration Department.

Meanwhile, a total of 191 nationals, including a 44-year-old male patient whose medical condition required him to fly home as a stretcher case and a 75-year-old woman, were repatriated from Macau on Dec. 16.

According to the DFA, it was the 26th repatriation from Macau, bringing to 5,152 the overseas Filipinos repatriated from the foreign land since the onset of the pandemic.

Philippine Consul General to Macau Porfirio M. Mayo Jr. led the Consulate’s team at the airport to assist passengers on the flight. He extended his warmest greetings to the passengers who will be able to spend their Christmas holidays back home saying, “Masaya po kami na makakapiling ninyo ang inyong pamilya ngayong Pasko (We're happy taht you will be with your families this Christmas).”