The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) reported that more than 7,000 overseas Filipinos (OFs) from various countries were repatriated by the government this year.
In its accomplishment report submitted to Malacañang, the DFA said 57.67 percent of the repatriated Filipinos came from the Middle East; 942 OFs and distressed Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) are from Kuwait, and 70 are from Sri Lanka.
The DFA also reported that as part of its delivery of consular services, it issued a total of 3,589,620 passports from January to October this year.
An additional six temporary off-site passport services facilities were opened by the department. As of November this year, DFA has issued 55,574 visas and 551,635 Apostille certificates.
The DFA meanwhile said bilateral agreements were signed on defense, culture, counterterrorism, trade and investment, technology and data protection, and migrant workers protection.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has said that the coordination between the DFA and the newly-created Department of Migrant Workers would be further strengthened in a bid to provide assistance to OFs.
“We will further intensify this coordination to provide prompt and appropriate service and help to overseas Filipinos in need),” Marcos said in a meeting with the Filipino community in Cambodia in November, which took place on the sidelines of the 40th and 41st Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit and Related Summits.
In his official trips abroad, the President proudly described OFWs as the pride of the Philippines who “bring honor to the Filipino nation.”
Marcos also cited the valuable contribution of OFWs, especially during the time when the country’s economy was dampened by the COVID-19 pandemic.