The Immigration Bureau says that some 140,000 overseas Filipinos have arrived in the country during the holidays.
The BI says that 141,216 Filipinos arrived in the Philippines while 117,795 left the country.
Americans followed the Philippines with the most number of arrivals followed by Canadians and Japanese.
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BI Commissioner Jaime Morente said in a statement that the majority of returning Filipinos want to spend Christmas day with their families.
“This is expected since many of our kababayans who are now living abroad wish to spend the holidays here with their families,” Morente added.
The BI adds that the number of arrivals doubled compared to last year.
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“Last year, there were only 5,478 arrivals for the two days, while this year, it increased 100% to 11,074 for the Christmas Eve and Christmas Day,” BI said.
“While the numbers are still relatively low, we are confident that this increase will continue until next year, given the government’s aggressive vaccination campaign,” the agency added. (TDT)
