The SUN HK : Consulate sets another special flight for stranded migrants on Jun 28

By Daisy CL Mandap

About 400 stranded workers managed to get home recently on 2 flights arranged by the PCG

Filipino migrant workers stranded in Hong Kong due to repeated flight cancellations could get home to Manila on Jun 28, through another special trip being arranged by the Consulate.

Consul General Raly Tejada personally informed The SUN about the special flight, saying he wants to get all the stranded Filipino workers home.

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As of this afternoon (June 24), ConGen Tejada said there were still 20 available seats on the flight. Those who wish to get a slot should register through the website of the Philippine Overseas Labour Office: https://polo-hongkong.com/registrationofstrandedofw.html?fbclid=IwAR0SEjDq1iMjJqQNny01TxntoBYMtDRVkfMI0NT0iDM11huPLq8mAoStWgU

Asked if those who don’t have any valid plane ticket could avail of the airlift, ConGen said, “We will try to assist. Basta palista muna sila.” (They should just sign up first)

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However, he said the Consulate was still working on which airline could fly the stranded passengers home.

Last year, more than 1,200 stranded passengers were flown to Manila on several flights by Cathay Pacific Airways, through special arrangements with the Consulate.

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On May 26 and Jun 1 this year, another 400 stranded overseas workers were able to fly home aboard two separate Philippine Airlines flights to Manila, despite difficulties caused by the arrival cap being set at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

To enable the airline to bring them home, the Consulate, through the Department of Foreign Affairs, had to ask the Philippines’ Inter-Agency Task Force on Covid control to increase the daily passenger arrival quota at the Manila aiport.

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Since Mar 18 this year, the IATF has set a daily quota of just 1,500 for all arrivals at NAIA, saying there was a need to decongest quarantine facilities in the capital. Several airlines have given this as reason for repeatedly canceling flights to the Manila.

With the hotel quarantine in Manila having been extended recently to 10 days instead of the previous seven, the space limitations at the designated facilities have become even more severe. And, with the dreaded Delta variant being increasingly found among returning Filipino workers, the entry restrictions have been tightened further.

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But these have not deterred a number of OFWs from hoping they could go home for good soon.

Many of the passengers carry this letter from Immigration showing their application for work visa was denied

Among those hoping to get a seat on the Jun 28 flight is Yumi, who has been stranded since March, after her bid to process a new employment contract in Hong Kong was rejected by Immigration.

Yumi confessed to having been too confident that she could secure a new work visa while in Hong Kong that she let the return air ticket given her by her previous employer lapse. She learned way too late that she should have just rebooked it so she could still fly home in case the unexpected happened.

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Now, Yumi says she has just been relying on the generosity of friends for her daily meals, and for money to pay for her visa extension fee. She is already a month behind in her payment for her boarding space, so buying a new one-way ticket to Manila, which costs about $2,500, is out of the picture.

But with her new visa deadline looming, Yumi has finally found light at the end of the tunnel. OWWA has assured her that they would find a way to get her on board the Jun 28 flight, so all she could do now is cross her fingers, and wait.