Secretary Locsin Briefs the Diplomatic Corps on DFA Assistance for Foreign Tourist Repatriations from the Philippines During ECQ Period

PASAY CITY 27 March 2020 — Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin, Jr. gave a briefing to over a hundred members of the diplomatic community through an online video conference and informed them regarding the repatriation of foreign nationals amid the enforcement of the Luzon-wide Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ).

At the briefing, which was broadcast live from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) this morning, Secretary Locsin informed the members of the diplomatic community that as the last of the sweeper flights mounted and funded by the Philippine government ended yesterday, foreign governments are to take full responsibility in mounting sweeper flights from the provinces and back to their countries from today.

The Secretary also informed the members of the diplomatic community to advise their nationals to return to their home countries while there are still available flights, otherwise they will have to stay in the Philippines until the end of the ECQ period. If that is the case, he advised foreign missions on the steps that they should take in the coming days and weeks with regard to assisting their nationals who are still in the Philippines while the ECQ is enforced.

During the briefing, Secretary Locsin assured the diplomatic community that the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) will continue doing its best to assist them in the performance of their duties in the country, particularly during the implementation of the ECQ which was enforced by the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) to help "flatten the curve" and curb the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the country.

He also enjoined them to continue working closely with the DFA especially during this time. “To enable the Philippine government to promptly assist your nationals, your missions should be aware of their exact locations where they can be picked up and brought to evacuation sites on short notice. This means your missions will have to know their location at any given time," informed the Secretary.

The Secretary has been very active in ensuring that the DFA extends its assistance to the diplomatic community during this time, especially to those countries that have foreign nationals who were stranded in various regions in the Philippines due to restrictions on land transfers and cancellations of flights.

Through the coordination of the DFA with other government agencies and local government units, sweeper flights were arranged with various governments and foreign nationals were eventually able to fly back to their home countries.

In the past few days, the DFA has assisted Germany, France, Russia and many other countries with their repatriation flights that brought hundreds of foreign tourists in the Philippines back to their home countries. Tomorrow, a flight organized by Denmark will be flying out their nationals stranded in the Philippines.

“Some say DFA shouldn’t put itself out so much for foreign tourists. They are wrong. They came because government promised that It IS MORE FUN IN THE PHILIPPINES… until it is not. We aim to keep it, if not fun, then STILL caring when things turn bad. DFA keeps its lines open,” said Secretary Locsin in a Twitter post following the briefing.

“I’m ordering all our consular offices to assist in person in evacuating stranded tourists. It’s the least we can do as host of the country we claimed is more fun to be in,” added Secretary Locsin. END

DFA Photos by Nilo K. Palaya