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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider Locsin thanks DFA for successful repatriation of Filipinos from cruise ship

Locsin thanks DFA for successful repatriation of Filipinos from cruise ship

Published Feb 26, 2020 12:00 am
By Roy Mabasa Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. on Wednesday thanked the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) for “doing the government proud” following the successful repatriation of 448 crew members and passengers of the COVID19-hit M/V Diamond Princess cruise ship anchored off the port of Yokohama. Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. (PRESIDENTIAL PHOTOS / MANILA BULLETIN) Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr.
(PRESIDENTIAL PHOTOS / MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO) The DFA, along with officials of the Philippine Embassy in Tokyo and a team from the Department of Health (DOH), was tasked to execute the directives of President Duterte to bring home all the Filipino nationals aboard the ship by virtue of the Inter-Agency Task Force Resolution 07 issued on Feb. 21. “Let us thank the DFA for doing the government proud again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and never embarrassing our government,” Locsin said in a tweet. Earlier, the DFA declared the entire repatriation plan a “success” shortly after the repatriates were bused to the Athletes’ Village in New Clark City at past midnight on Wednesday. The trek back to the Philippines started on Tuesday morning after the release of negative laboratory results of tests conducted by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare (MHLW). Based on the DFA account, the repatriates were allowed to disembark from the ship and transfer by bus to Haneda airport, an operation strictly overseen by and coordinated with the Japan Self Defense Forces. The first flight, which carried 309 passengers, as well as a two-member repatriation team from the DFA and a four-member health response team from DOH arrived at Clark Airbase at 10:10 p.m. on Tuesday (Feb. 25). The second flight, with 136 passengers in addition to a two-member DFA team and a five-member DOH team, arrived 12:12 a.m. on Wednesday (Feb. 26). Both flights were received at the Haribon Hangar in Clark Airbase, Pampanga. The M/V Diamond Princess has a combined total of 538 Filipino crew and passengers, of whom 80 tested positive for COVID-19 and have been admitted to Japanese hospitals. The cruise ship was under quarantine in Yokohama port since Feb. 5, after one of its passengers tested positive for COVID-19. READ MORE: Panelo cites successful repatriation of Filipinos from Japan
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