The Department of Foreign Affairs laments the limited quarantine facilities for arriving overseas Filipinos resulting in a limited number of special chartered flights.
In a media briefing from Saudi Arabia, DFA Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs Sarah Lou Ariola revealed the quarantine facility problem amid calls of stranded overseas Filipino workers in the UAE.
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“We have been given government enough resources for sweeper flights. Ang problema ang quarantine ay 14 days yung iba ay 10 days napupuno po talaga agad yung 35,000 na quarantine rooms,” she said.
The DFA official added that the decision to expand the travel cap is also subject to the approval of the Inter-Agency Task Force or IATF.
“We will try to increase the number of repatriation flights depending on the availability of quarantine facilities,” she said.
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So far two repatriation flights from UAE are currently scheduled. The flights will be on June 30 and July 17.
Two repatriation flights from Saudi Arabia were also scheduled on July 10 and July 24 respectively. (TDT)
