The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration or OWWA has spearheaded a repatriation flight on July 10 for stranded overseas Filipinos in the United Arab Emirates.
“DOLE-OWWA sponsored PR 8659, carrying 348 Abu Dhabi/Dubai OFWs, has arrived. Included onboard are 60 pregnant OFWs with their babies, OWWA chief Hans Cacdac said in a tweet.
The flight is among the series of repatriation flights mounted by the Philippine government affected by the travel ban from the UAE.
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Last July 9, the Inter-Agency Task Force has approved the conduct of special commercial flights exclusively for overseas Filipinos in UAE, Oman, and countries under travel restrictions.
A special working group composed of various government agencies would determine the protocols for the special commercial flights, in coordination with the concerned airlines.
“The IATF authorized the conduct of special commercial flights to bring home stranded Filipinos in Oman, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and other countries where there are travel restrictions imposed,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said.
The special working group would be composed of the Department of Health, the Bureau of Quarantine (BOQ), the Overseas Workers’ Welfare Administration (OWWA), the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), the Department of Transportation (DOTr), and its One-Stop Shop, the Philippine Coast Guard, and the Department of Tourism.
“The special commercial flights, which must have prior approval from the SWG, shall likewise be exclusive for Filipinos,” Roque added.
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“The guidelines on the implementation of exemptions for the Philippine government and non-Philippine government repatriation shall be followed,” Roque continued.
President Rodrigo Duterte has approved the extension of the ban to UAE, Oman, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka until July 15.
Roque appeals for understanding as all these parts of its proactive efforts to prevent the spread of the Delta variant.
Malacanang said that the decision was to protect not only the OFW but their loved ones here in the Philippines. (TDT)
