Press Release
PR ETA-66-2021
Consul General and Labor Attaché send-off Distressed OFWs during PH Government’s Repatriation from Jeddah
Jeddah, 28 October 2021 – Consul General Edgar Tomas Q. Auxilian and Labor Attaché Roel B. Martin accompanied distressed Filipino workers to the King Abdul Aziz International Airport, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia during the Department of Labor and Employment’s (DOLE) special Philippine Airlines repatriation flight on 27 October 2021. The repatriation flight was able to accommodate 17 medical cases (including 1 stretcher case); 5 mother-child cases; 183 female and 7 male temporary residents of the Bahay Kalinga; and 135 various distressed Filipino passengers for a total of 347 repatriates.
Consul General Edgar Tomas Q. Auxilian and Labor Attaché Roel B. Martin inspect the buses transporting the Filipino repatriates to the airport.
L-R: Labor Attaché Roel B. Martin, Vice Consul Lemuel C. Lopez, Consul General Edgar Tomas Q. Auxilian discuss repatriation concerns at the King Abdul Aziz International Airport, Jeddah during the repatriation flight.
Consul General Edgar Tomas Q. Auxilian speaks to the medical stretcher case repatriate. He was able to secure his final exit visa with the assistance of the Consulate General.
The Philippine Consulate General in Jeddah and its partner agency, The Philippine Overseas Labor Office-Jeddah, experienced a surge in the need of Filipinos to be repatriated in the Philippines due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused numerous problems for Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) such as the loss of employment stability, rising cost of airline tickets, and other factors affected by the worldwide pandemic.
L-R: Labor Attaché Roel B. Martin, Consul General Edgar Tomas Q. Auxilian with Filipino Community leaders Mr. Sharif Faisal B. Latif and Mr. Mahadi Ali who assisted during the repatriation.
The Philippine government sends its deep appreciation for the cooperation of the Saudi immigration authorities, Philippine Airlines officials, and the Filipino community in Jeddah who extended assistance to help make the repatriation possible.
This is the 11th Philippine government-funded repatriation flight from Jeddah to Manila since the COVID-19 pandemic started with well over 3,500 passengers repatriated. –END
