Over 1.3 million overseas Filipinos repatriated during pandemic – Lorenzana

Repatriated overseas Filipino workers arrive at NAIA on May 26, 2020, after being allowed to go home following weeks of quarantine amid the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). (REUTERS)

MANILA, Philippines — A total of 1,375,686 Filipinos abroad have been repatriated since the start of the pandemic, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said Monday in a taped weekly briefing with President Rodrigo Duterte.

Of that number, 1,101,930 were overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and 273,546 were residents returning from abroad.

A total of 3,289 have also been repatriated from Sabah, Malaysia while 4,683 are still in process of repatriation.

“Our borders there were closed because there were many COVID cases in Sabah,” Lorenzana said in Filipino.

RELATED STORIES

OFWs are back home, what now?

‘Biggest ever repatriation in PH history’ is ongoing

ATM