Aid given to OFWs stranded in NAIA

OVERSEAS Filipino workers (OFWs) stranded by the runway closure at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport over the weekend received P5,000 financial aid and assistance upon arrival in Saudi Arabia, the Department of Foreign Affairs ( DFA).

In a statement, the DFA said some 300 OFWs who arrived on board a special Philippine Airlines flight from Manila were assisted by the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh and the Philippine Consulate General in Jeddah upon their arrival in Saudi Arabia on Thursday.

The Philippine Embassy and Consulate General will also issue certifications and make representations with foreign employers if needed to explain the delay in the return of their Filipino employees.

The DFA has released almost P2.8 million in financial assistance to OFWs who were stranded at the NAIA after the Chinese passenger plane Xiamen Air Flight MF8667 skidded off its main runway on August 16, closing the airport for 36 hours.

A total of 381 affected workers received the cash assistance on Thursday, bringing to 559 the total number of beneficiaries who have been served since Wednesday.

The DFA released the cash assistance in all three NAIA terminals only until 10 p. m. Friday. Stranded OFWs who are still in Manila may still claim the P5,000 cash assistance at the DFA Office of Migrant Workers Affairs but only until the end of office hours on August 31, while those abroad can do so at any Philippine Embassy or Consulate General until September 30, 2018.

Ambassador to Riyadh Adnan Alonto said that upon arrival at the airport, the OFWs were provided with meals. The embassy also provided a bus to transport 15 of the workers to Jeddah.

“Ou kababayan ( fellowmen) were thankful for the assistance rendered to them,” Alonto said, adding that most of the workers were returning from their vacations in the Philippines.