TOKYO – The Philippine Embassy in Tokyo on Saturday repatriated an additional 204 Filipino tourists, students, and OFWs via a Cebu Pacific flight that departed from Narita International Airport.
The Filipinos were stranded in Japan due to travel restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic that resulted in multiple cancellations of commercial flights.
According to the Embassy, they mounted the repatriation flight, in close coordination with the Philippine Consulates-General in Osaka and Nagoya, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO)-Tokyo, and Cebu Pacific.
Overall, a total of 815 Filipinos have been repatriated by the Embassy, following the repatriation of 445 seafarers on board the M/V Diamond Princess last February, and a batch of 166 stranded individuals on June 1.
“The Embassy also assisted the Philippine Consulate General in Osaka in facilitating the repatriation of over 300 overseas Filipinos last month, of whom 209 technical intern trainees, and 126 seafarers on board the M/V Costa Atlantica in Nagasaki,” it said in a news release. - Florenda Corpuz
(Photograph courtesy of Philippine Embassy, Tokyo)
