A total of 398 Filipinos from Macau, Thailand, and Vietnam who were mostly laid off by their employers are back in the Philippines. While some Filipinos choose to stay in their host country regardless of the unavailability of work.
With Macau having a record of 82 covid infections since 2020, the strict lockdown of China greatly affected its casino operations that rely on foreign tourism. While the cases of COVID-19 in Thailand and Vietnam have been high after dropping their zero COVID-19 policies, Thailand reported 26,050 new cases with 69 more COVID-19 fatalities and Vietnam has an average record of 130,146 cases per day with 51 COVID deaths.
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On March 25, the Philippine Consulate General in Macau arranged its 29th repatriation. They arranged a flight for 203 Filipinos; three as cadavers, their deaths were non-related to COVID-19. Since 2020, the Consulate General has already repatriated 5,781 Filipinos in Macau.
The Department of Foreign Affairs also arranged a repatriation flight for the Filipino workers from Thailand and Vietnam. The 53 Filipinos from Thailand mostly worked in the education and tourism industry, they wanted to stay but they have to “support themselves while looking for a new employment” was difficult.
142 Filipinos also joined the chartered plane from Ho Chi Minh back to Manila.
