(Eagle News) — Sixty-seven more Filipinos from abroad have been repatriated, the Department of Foreign Affairs said.
The DFA said of the 67, 38 were repatriated from Cambodia, while 29 were from Indonesia.
With the additional repatriates from Cambodia, the Department of Foreign Affairs said the total number of Filipinos brought back to the Philippines from the country rose to 819.
The department said the Philippine Embassy in Phnom Penh facilitated the repatriation through a Philippine Airlines flight.
This is the last batch of Filipinos to be brought home from the country this year.
The DFA said the 29 were fishermen who had been stranded in Manado, North Sulawesi for weeks.
After an 8-hour voyage by public ferry to Tahuna Island where they spent the night, the Filipinos went on board a 250-gross ton, steel-hulled vessel chartered with funds from generous concerned citizens.
The vessel departed Tahuna Port on December 13 and arrived at General Santos City Port on December 14.
The DFA said it has repatriated over 300,000 Filipinos since February, the start of repatriation efforts amid the COVID-19 pandemic.