DFA Wraps Up Easter Sunday with 33 OFWs Brought Home from Indonesia

(UPDATED) PASAY CITY 12 April 2020 —The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) welcomed 33 additional Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) as Easter Sunday culminated with 12,144 Filipino repatriates since February this year.

The workers landed at NAIA Terminal 1 at 2205H aboard Korean Air Flight KE 623 via Seoul. The 23 out of the 33 repatriates were employed by Daewoo Engineering & Construction Co. Ltd. in West Papua in the far east of Indonesia while 10 were employees of DASH Engineering Philippines Inc., dispatched in Central Java, Indonesia. They were brought back home by their employers after their operations were suspended due to COVID-19 pandemic.

The repatriation was a joint undertaking between the private sector and the DFA, through the Philippine Embassy in Jakarta and the Philippine Consulate General in Manado, Indonesia. Daewoo Engineering & Construction Co. Ltd. and DASH Engineering shouldered the airfare of their Filipino employees.

The Bureau of Quarantine ensured that health protocols at the port of entry are properly observed. Other government agencies such as OWWA, DSWD, and DOTr were also present to provide assistance to the OFWs amid the enhanced community quarantine.

The end of Easter Sunday marked the 13th straight day of the DFA’s repatriation efforts to bring home our distressed kababayans. To date, the DFA has repatriated 9,136 seafarers and 3,008 land-based OFWs. The DFA expects more repatriations in the coming days and stands ready to serve the Filipinos around the world. END 

(Photos by DFA-OUMWA)