Over 400 OFWs returning from Libya today

MANILA, Philippines - Over 400 more overseas Filipino workers (OFW) fleeing Libya are returning home today.

Administrator Rebecca Calzado of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) said 468 workers are scheduled to arrive at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) on separate flights, the first 50 on board Qatar Airways at terminal 1 at 4 p.m.; and 418 others at terminal 2 at 9:30 p.m. on Philippine Airlines from Tunisia.

OWWA officers will fly to Tunisia to fetch the 418, she added.

Government officials will be at the airport to extend necessary assistance to the returning OFWs, Calzado said.

Based on OWWA data, a total of 2,917 OFWs have returned to the country since the government ordered their immediate repatriation from Libya.

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said about 3,000 more OFWs are still expected to return home from Libya in the coming weeks.

Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said the DOLE and OWWA have provided necessary assistance to all the repatriates from Libya.

A majority or 63 percent of repatriates have expressed their desire to seek re-employment overseas.

Most of them have also availed of the government’s P10,000 financial grant.