Repatriation Not Only For The Living

No One Is Left Behind

11 July 2020

The Department of Labor and Employment apologized for the delay in the repatriation of the more than 270 remains of overseas Filipino workers who died in Saudi Arabia, after only 49 bodies of the OFWs arrived in the country. Almost half of them died of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

“We sincerely apologize for the much-delayed homecoming owing to the lockdowns and strenuous processes that we have to undergo for their return. The added anxiety to the families caused by the suspended homeward journey is certainly undeserved,” Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said in a statement.

He said of the 49 OFWs repatriated, 32 were from Dammam, while 17 were from Riyadh.

Bello said another batch of bodies of OFWs would be flown from Saudi Arabia by next week.

He said the government of President Duterte will continue to fly home all the dead, and if need be, not only from the Middle East but also from all over the world.- Manila Standard