The scheduled repatriation of over 50 Filipinos from Dubai today and on May 6 has been postponed following a decision by the National Task Force Against COVID-19 to temporarily suspend all inbound international flights at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) due to overcrowding of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) arriving at a daily rate of 2,000 and needing to be quarantined.
The suspension took effect today, May 3, 2009 and will remain so till May 9, 2020, according to the Department of Transportation (DOTr), citing a decision to this effect by the National Task Force Against COVID-19.
“Currently, the government has already accommodated around 20,000 repatriates who are quarantined in Metro Manila, with an arrival rate of 2,000 per day,” DOTr said in a statement, a copy of which was shared by Consul General Paul Raymund Cortes to media.
“This measure to temporarily suspend international passenger arrivals will enable the government to decongest the processing of this number to a more manageable level, given the need to observe strict health protocols, and the fact that existing quarantine facilities are at full capacity,” the statement added.
DOTr further said that the move is deemed necessary to ensure that the Philippines does not experience a second wave of Covid-19 pandemic due to the increasing number of international passenger arrivals.
“It should be noted that most of our repatriated citizens are coming from countries which experienced significant Covid-19 outbreak,” DOTr said.
The Philippine diplomatic post in the UAE has just recently started repatriating Filipinos staying in the country on visit visas with the first batch comprising of 13 people having left Dubai International Airport in the morning of April 28, followed by a second batch that left on April 30.
Two other batches of over 50 visit visa holders were supposed to fly today and on May 6, according to Cortes.
He said they will rebook the flights while at the same time continue accepting repatriation requests but in consideration of possible more NAIA flight suspensions in the future.
Most of those going home were either resident visa holders on unpaid leave and being sent home by employers to return when things have normalized; those who have been terminated; or those on visit visa.
Ma April Chentes, who works at a high-end shop for tourists in Dubai that has temporarily closed, has been on unpaid leave since March 24. She said she had an April 1 flight booked but was cancelled after the airport was closed.
She rebooked for May 1 but it was again cancelled, she said. Latest booking was for May 6, which falls under the NAIA suspension period.
Chentes said she has spent most of her emergency fund and savings during the period covering her unpaid leave. She and her house mates, most of whom have been on unpaid leave or jobless, have been surviving partly on dole-outs from OFW groups doing food relief support projects.
“Lahat na po ng naitabi ay naubos na sa pambayad ng bahay, bills… etc. Wala na nga pong pambayad ngayong May,” she told Rappler.
Chentes said she is on unpaid leave till June 30. The company that hired her has started opening some of its shops. Problem is, she said, she is not sure whether they’d be paid on time once they return for work.
“Hindi po namin alam kung papasahurin kami kasi nakapirma kami hanggang June 30 na unpaid,” Chentes said.
“Or, kung meron man na sasahurin, ay kailan? Kasi yung January at February namin na sweldo ay 15th of February na namin nakuha. March naman po ay kulang din sinahod namin,” Chentes said.
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