The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) said that it is eyeing the repatriation of 63 Filipinos who expressed willingness to return home to the Philippines amid the violence in Haiti.
DMW officer-in-charge Hans Cacdac said that repatriation will be mounted as soon as possible.
“The flight will be arranged at the soonest possible time. Wala lang specific date. As soon as possible, ganon muna tayo ngayon. Obviously, it could be this week,” said Cacdac.
The Philippine government has raised the alert level in Haiti to crisis alert level 3, which means that repatriation is voluntary.
“‘Yung sa iba, sila ay kinukumbinsi pa syempre to take the flight home. Voluntary repatriation ngayon, nasa kanila ang kapasyahan whether or not nais nilang umuwi. But definitely, ang sinasabi ngayon on the ground is hanggat maaari, mag-avail na ng voluntary repatriation,”said Cacdac.
The Department of Foreign Affairs said there are 154 Filipinos in Haiti.
So far, no Filipinos have been hurt or injured following the series of violence that erupted in Haiti.
“Of course may karampatang deployment ban ‘yan. Although matagal na ring may deployment ban to Haiti in 2017. So hindi rin ganon karami ang OFWs doon,” Cacdac said.
