DAVAO CITY — The Philippine Consulate General in Jeddah repatriated another batch of Filipinos based in Jeddah and other parts of the Western Region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on 17 July 2020.
The newly repatriated were brought home via a Philippine Airlines (PAL) chartered flight.
The chartered flight landed in Manila on 18 July 2020. The repatriates were among the thousands of OFWs who were economically displaced and got stranded in the Kingdom because of the COVID-19 crisis.
In the said flight, 25 passengers did not show up at the airport while one was offloaded after the OFW’s sponsor canceled her final exit visa.
The seats that were vacated by the no-show and offloaded passengers were quickly filled up by 26 other OFWs on the waitlist.
These waitlisted passengers were brought by the Consulate to the airport in anticipation of no-shows and off-loaded passengers.
A total of 354 passengers, including a baby, were accommodated by the PAL chartered flight, thereby tallying a seat utilization rate of 100.28%.
Consul General Edgar B. Badajos said that the ongoing repatriation of distressed OFWs in Jeddah and the Western Region of Saudi Arabia is part of the Philippine government’s strong commitment to bringing home overseas Filipinos, who wish to go back to the Philippines in the midst of the economic crisis being experienced by many countries caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The Philippine government’s resolve to assist OFWs stranded in other countries in this time of pandemic is firm as it falls under the third pillar of Philippine foreign policy, namely, protection of Filipinos abroad,” Badajos said.
Following Secretary of Foreign Affairs’ Teodoro Locsin Jr.’s instructions to bring home OFWs who would like to be repatriated, the Consulate General immediately coordinated with the office of the DFA-Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs headed by Undersecretary Sarah Lou Y. Arriola for the flight arrangements with PAL.-Newsline
