98 OFWs repatriated from Lebanon — DFA

At least 98 distressed overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who were sheltered at the Filipino Workers Resource Center (FWRC) in Lebanon have been repatriated to the Philippines, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Monday. The DFA said the 98 arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Sunday afternoon via an Etihad Airways flight. Philippine Embassy Assistance-to-Nationals (ATN) Officer Edwin Batallones escorted the repatriates on their flight, the DFA said in a news release posted on the government portal. At the airport to extend assistance to the repatriates were Legal Officers Sorhaya Dilabakun, Emily Villanueva, and Aurea Bahjin and Case Officer Mayette Casaysayan from the DFA-Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs (DFA-OUMWA); and representatives from the Overseas Welfare Workers Administration (OWWA). The Embassy provided the OFWs shelter, food, basic amenities, and appropriate assistance in processing their exit visas, the DFA said. While waiting for their exit papers, the OFWs were also given first aid training and other personal development courses held in the Embassy, through the joint effort of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Beirut and the Caritas Lebanon Migrants Center. "Almost all of the 98 repatriates arrived in Lebanon in violation of the total deployment ban, which was in place since 18 June 2007," the DFA said. It said the OFWs were sheltered in the FWRC after absconding from their employers or recruitment agencies in Lebanon. The Embassy made representations with the Lebanese immigration authorities for the issuance of the exit clearances of the OFWs. The DFA, through the Embassy, also purchased the airline tickets of the OFWs. “We appeal again to Filipino workers not to fall victims to illegal recruitment and to follow Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) regulations on overseas deployment," said Ambassador Gilberto Asuque. - KBK, GMA News