RP repatriates 26 OFWs from Doha

Twenty-six distressed overseas Filipino workers arrived in the Philippines Thursday following their repatriation from Doha in Qatar. According to a release posted on the Website of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), the OFWs arrived 3:35 p.m. aboard Qatar Airways Flight 646. The DFA said many of the workers were those under the custody of the Filipino Workers Resource Center (FWRC), which serves as the temporary shelter of distressed OFWs, and who were endorsed to the Qatari Deportation Center for eventual repatriation back home. During his visit to Doha this February, Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Secretary Marianito Roque initiated the mass repatriation of the 26 workers and pledged to provide plane tickets for their return back to Manila, the release further stated. The Philippine Embassy in Doha, in coordination with the Office of the Labor Attaché and Workers Welfare Representatives (POLO-OWWA) in Doha, made representations with the Deportation Center authorities to facilitate the repatriation of the 26 OFWs.—Jerrie M. Abella/JV, GMANews.TV