220,000 OFWs sent home since start of pandemic

More than 220,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) have come home since the coronavirus pandemic began, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA). The DFA said it had brought home 223,294 Filipinos since the start of the pandemic, including 9,352 who were repatriated last week. Of those repatriated, 73,870 (33.08 percent) were sea-based, while 149,424 (66.92 percent) were land-based. Last week, the DFA brought home 8,444 OFWs from the Middle East, 512 from Asia and the Pacific, 394 from Europe and two from the Americas. —Tina G. Santos