DFA-Facilitated Repatriations Now on Third Week; Close to 18,000 OFs Have Been Brought Home

(Photos by DFA-OUMWA)

PASAY CITY 20 April 2020 – The number of repatriates assisted by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) reached nearly 18,000, as it welcomed 867 seafarers based in Florida, USA aboard two chartered flights that landed at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 1 around 09:00 this morning.

This is the third straight week since the DFA facilitated the series of repatriations that followed the catastrophic economic impact wrought by the COVID-19 global pandemic.

This batch of repatriates was composed of seafarers from ships Norwegian Pearl, Sky, Star, Sun, and Escape. They were assisted by the DFA through the Philippine Embassy in Washington D.C, together with its partner agencies the Department of Health, the Bureau of Immigration, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), the Department of Transportation (DOTr), and local manning agency (LMA) CF Sharp.

The ships’ mother company, Norwegian Cruise Lines, paid for the chartered flights, while CF Sharp shouldered the costs for the onward transportation and quarantine facility.

They were flown via chartered Wamos Air Flights PLM 420 and PLM 922.

The distressed OFWs underwent thorough mandatory inspection and appropriate protocols supervised by the Bureau of Quarantine (BOQ) and will undergo quarantine in BOQ-designated facilities. END