DFA Welcomes Back 345 OFWs From Barbados

PASAY CITY 06 June 2020 —The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) continues to assist Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) who seek to make their way home. Philippine Airlines flight PR 8117 arrived at Clark International Airport with 345 Filipino repatriates on board, all crew members of Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines who patiently waited for their repatriation from docked ships in Barbados.

The Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging and Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) One Stop Shop at the Clark International Airport facilitated the next step towards their safe return to their families in the Philippines.

Upon arrival at Clark International Airport, the repatriates underwent proper documentation procedures, RT-PCR COVID-19 testing and a briefing on current safety protocols prescribed by the IATF-EID. They will be temporarily housed at Bureau of Quarantine-approved facilities for mandatory quarantine while they await the result of their RT-PCR COVID-19 test.

This whole-of-government approach among the different agencies — the DFA, Department of Health-Bureau of Quarantine, Bases Conversion and Development Authority, Clark International Airport, Department of Tourism, Philippine National Police and members of the private sector — ensures that overseas Filipinos are successfully repatriated and taken out of harm's way. END (Photos by DFA-OUMWA)