The latest batch of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who availed of the amnesty program has arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1 around 8:40 a.m., Wednesday, August 29.
According to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), the latest batch onboard Philippine Airlines flight PR657 is composed of 125 OFWs — 118 women, seven men, and one minor. The latest batch also marks the first batch of repatriated OFWs from Abu Dhabi.
The OFWs were welcomed by officials from DFA and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA).
Upon their arrival, the OFWs were given Php5,000 financial assistance while the government also shouldered the connecting flights of the 26 OFWs who still need to travel by plane to reach their respective provinces.
Earlier this month, a total of 217 OFWs from Dubai have arrived in the country since the UAE amnesty started. The arrival of the latest batch of OFWs brought the total of amnesty grantees who have returned to the country to 341.
More batches of amnesty grantees from UAE are expected to return home until the amnesty program ends on October 31.
Under the amnesty program, expatriates with overstaying or absconding cases in the UAE are allowed to return home to their respective home countries.
