The government has brought home 72 more deceased overseas Filipino workers from Saudi Arabia.
Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello welcomed the remains of the dead OFWs on Friday. This is the fourth batch to be repatriated from the kingdom since July.
A majority of those flown home yesterday died of COVID-19. They were flown in via Philippine Airlines chartered flight PR 8683.
“We’re doing this not just because it’s our duty. This is the government’s way of paying respect and giving recognition to our modern-day heroes’ valuable contribution to the growth of the Filipino families and the country,” Bello said.
Of those repatriated, 62 succumbed to COVID-related diseases while 10 died of other causes. 40 remains came from Al Khobar, 17 from Jeddah and 15 from Riyadh.
Three more bodies of OFWs from Riyadh, that were not accommodated in the chartered flight, were brought home also yesterday on board a commercial PAL flight. They died of natural causes.
This brings to 267 the total human remains of OFWs repatriated from the Saudi Arabia.
