OFW batch from North Africa arrives Monday
Jun 21, 2020 • 1 min Read
A fresh batch of 277 distressed overseas Filipino workers from North Africa is arriving in Manila on Monday (June 22), the labor department reported on Saturday.
The repatriates, including OFW dependents from Libya, Tunisia and Algeria, will be flown in via a special flight of the Philippine Airlines (PR8131) and arrive at 4:40 p.m.
The arriving workers were employed in the oil industry and medical establishments, with some who finished their contracts while mostly were displaced due to the temporary shutdown of companies due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In his report to the Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III, Labor Attaché Adam Musa said the special flight from Libya will fly Algiers and Tunis en route to the Philippines.
Musa said the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO), in coordination with the Philippine Embassy, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Samsung C&T Algeria, HEC-JLL and Brix Companies arranged the repatriation of the workers.
The same flight also carries the human remains of OFWs Herminia Sablay Estrada and Glenna Deza who both died of cardiac arrest in Libya.
Bello expressed the readiness of the government to assist the displaced workers.
This developed as the labor chief said DOLE is requesting a fresh P1 billion additional funds for its AKAP program to be able to assist more OFWs affected by the global crisis.
More than 500,000 on-site and repatriated OFWs had so far sought the one-time financial aid of $200 or P10,000. A budget of P2.5 billion had been released under the AKAP program. Close to 200,000 OFWs had benefitted so far under the program.
DOLE News Release
