2nd batch of 50 OFWs returns from Japan

A second batch of 50 Filipinos from Japan - 27 of them children - who availed of the government's repatriation program for those living near a quake-crippled nuclear plant arrived home Wednesday afternoon. The batch arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 2 via a Philippine Airlines flight (PR-431) past 1 p.m., radio dzBB's Denver Trinidad reported. "It's an open invitation ... to repatriate any and all who are willing to come back to the Philippines. Ito ang gustong umuwi at this time," said Department of Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Antonio Rodriguez, who was among the officials who welcomed the Filipinos. Overseas Workers Welfare Administration representatives were also on hand to welcome the returning Filipinos. A DFA news release said DFA Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs (DFA-OUMWA) Special Assistant Atty. Rico Fos accompanied the repatriates, along with four DFA officials who were earlier deployed to Tokyo as an augmentation team. "The Philippine Embassy repatriation team fetched the Filipinos at Fukushima City Tuesday. From there, they were brought to Narita, where the Embassy had arranged for their overnight stay," the DFA said. "We offered voluntary repatriation as a humanitarian option for those concerned," Philippine Ambassador to Japan Manuel Lopez said. The dzBB report said some of the Filipinos in the second batch are those who failed to join the 44 Filipinos who returned to the country last Sunday. Last Sunday, the first batch of repatriated Filipinos – 19 mothers and 25 children – arrived in Manila. — LBG/RSJ, GMA News