768 OFWs arrive from Libya

MANILA, Philippines - A total of 768 overseas Filipino workers from Libya arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on two chartered Philippine Airlines (PAL) flights on Saturday night and early Sunday, bringing the total number of repatriated OFWs to 2,727.

The first batch of 419 OFWs arrived at the NAIA Terminal 2 at around 10 p.m. Saturday.

They were welcomed by Vice President Jejomar Binay, Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario, Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz, and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) chief Rebecca Calzado.

The second batch of 349 OFWs arrived at NAIA-2 at nearly 4 a.m. yesterday, and were welcomed by Baldoz and Calzado.

Baldoz and Calzado also briefed the displaced OFWs on the various government programs aimed to mitigate the impact of their sudden job loss.

Both flights originated from Malta, where a Philippine-chartered ship ferried Filipinos from the Libyan cities of Benghazi and Misrata. Malta is an island in the Mediterranean Sea that is some 300 kilometers away from Libya.

Repatriation from Libya is being done by land through the Libya-Tunisia border and by sea passage to Malta.

The government is also exploring the use of the Libya-Egypt border as a possible exit point, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said.

The DFA raised Crisis Alert Level 4 on Libya last July 20, placing a total deployment ban on the North African country and calling for the mandatory repatriation of all OFWs.

As of Aug. 14, the OWWA recorded 954 OFWs availing of the one-time cash Financial Relief Assistance Program (FRAP), 242 availing of temporary shelter at the OWWA Halfway Home, and 769 were provided money for transportation.

Calzado said the OWWA has released P9.54 million for FRAP beneficiaries and many of those are from Calabarzon.

The OWWA Welfare Regional Offices also extended other services to OFWs, including the Balik-Pinas, Balik-Hanapbuhay Program, Reintegration Program; livelihood assistance; scholarships and training, and job referrals.

The DFA continued to appeal to all Filipinos still in Libya to avail of repatriation services offered by the government.

To register for repatriation, Filipinos can reach the embassy in Tripoli through telephone numbers (00218) 918-244-208/914-370-399/945-348-481 and e-mail addresses [email protected] and [email protected].

The embassy’s address is KM 7 Gargaresh Road, Abu Nawas, P.O. Box 12508, Tripoli. – With Mayen Jaymalin