VIDEO: More than 380 Filipinos fly back home from UAE

Mariecar Jara-Puyod, Senior Reporter

More than 380 Filipinos have been scheduled to fly back to their home country on Sunday night from the UAE for the first-ever chartered Philippine government-sponsored COVID-19 pandemic-related repatriation programme for all the Overseas Filipinos Workers (OFWs) and migrants worldwide.

Consul General in Dubai and the Northern Emirates Paul Raymund Cortes told newsmen on Sunday that 127 of the 382 were visit visa holders, the priority of Manila in this repatriation programme. There are approximately 127 terminated from work who have to exit the UAE between Aug.18 and Dec.31, 2020.

The return flight comes four days after the Duterte administration, through the Department of Labour and Employment, (DoLE) launched the OASIS (OFW Assistance Information System) so that the agency and its affiliates such as the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) and the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, would know the assistance needs of the repatriates, according to the Inquirer.net of the Metro Manila-based Philippine Daily Inquirer.

Filipino passengers at Dubai Airport.

Meanwhile, the One News portal of the Metro Manila-based The Philippine Star, recently quoted DoLE-National Reintegration Centre for OFWs acting director Roel Martin, on the "Balik Pinas! Balik Hanap-Buhay! (Return to the Philippines! Return to the Philippines!) Programme.

The programme is for both returning documented OFWs and returning visit/tourist visa holders. Both categories may avail of cash assistance and loans ranging from Php10,000 (Dhs730.54) to Php5 million (Dhs365,268.46) meant for individual or group/partnership businesses, one of the keys to re-mainstreaming.

The Php10,000 cash assistance has an initial budget of Php30 million (Dhs2,191,610). The Php100,000 (Dhs7,305.37) to Php5 million (Dhs365,268.46) through the Enterprise Development Programme, has a Php700 million (Dhs51,137,584.89) allocation.

Inquirer.net quoted DoLE Secretary Silvestre Bello III on the OASIS, developed by the DoLE Crisis Management Team: "An oasis symbolises hope in a desert of trials. The system provides a ray of hope by ensuring that we provide them efficient and timely assistance to ease their anxieties when returning home in the midst of this pandemic.”

The repatriates must log in at oasis.owwa.gov.ph wherein they are asked to fill up the form, if they understood its contents and willing to process their data, in accordance to the Data Privacy Act of 2012.

On the return of the 382 via Cebu Pacific 5J19 Dubai-Manila flight, repatriation proceedings at Dubai International Airport Terminal 2 was timed at 7pm on Sunday.

The repatriation was paid for by Manila’s Department of Foreign Affairs-Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs-Assistance to Nationals Unit which has an annual budget of Php1 billion (Dhs73,053,692.70) for such instances alongside legal assistance needs of all OFWs and migrants in distress.

As of June 7, the Duterte administration had repatriated 55,859 COVID-19-impacted OFWs and migrants from different countries of which 43,143 had been released from hotel quarantine facilities with 1,376 confirmed COVID19-infected, 623 hospitalised, and one having succumbed to the dreaded upper respiratory infectious disease.

Of the 55,859, 38,440 were mariners and 17,419 were land-based.