Nearly 500 Filipino nationals still waiting for flights home

Passangers queueing at the airport yesterday

Despite arranging 11 repatriation flights to Manila, the Philippine Consulate General in Macau is still dealing with a record number of nearly 500 Filipino nationals who wish to return home after being laid off from their jobs.
Yesterday, the consulate’s 11th repatriation flight carried a total of 197 passengers, as well as two infants and three bodies. Some of the passengers had medical conditions or were pregnant.
The majority of the passengers were former blue card holders who had been laid off, mostly by gaming operators.
“From our list last Wednesday, there were still around 688 nationals that wish to be repatriated. We’re deducting 197 from the list, so there is about 400 more,” said Lilybeth Deapera, Consul General of the Philippine Consulate in the SAR.
The consulate again communicated with a local travel agency, who then collaborated with Philippine Airlines to arrange the flight.
Passengers who were repatriated did not have to pay a fee for the first few repatriation flights arranged by the consulate and the Philippine government. However, the recent repatriation flights have cost between 1,400 to approximately 1,800 patacas.
“We were previously told that some commercial airlines will already be flying commercially but since then, it didn’t [eventuate] so we approached a travel agency and they were the ones who negotiated with Philippine Airlines, as well as collected ticket fees,” Deapera explained.
The passengers are chosen by the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration and the Philippine Overseas Labor Office in Macau.
These two offices prioritize people who are pregnant or have medical conditions, and senior citizens.
Yesterday, passengers who were in wheelchairs and needed assistance due to their medical conditions were seen at the local airport.
Filipino nationals are required to fill out an online form to request a chartered flight back home. This also serves as a list for the consulate’s records.
Many of Macau’s migrant workers were dismissed due to the economic downturn and continuous plunge in the city’s gross gaming revenue due to the pandemic. The situation has persisted since February.
The Macau SAR recorded a total of 181,697 non-resident workers in September, down nearly 9,700 from the start of the pandemic in February and almost 12,000 since the start of the year.
A data release from the Public Security Police Force implied that there had been continuous cuts to and non-renewals of non-resident workers’ permits since start of the pandemic.
Several repatriation flights were also conducted for nationals from Nepal, India and Myanmar earlier this year, particularly during the second quarter.
Meanwhile, when questioned about the employment law amendment on non-resident workers, Deapera remarked, “I guess it is also for the benefit of the workers, as they will now be [formally] coming through the Philippine government [to work abroad].”
Normally, a Filipino national would have to go through the country’s overseas employment administration to work abroad and ensure that they are recorded in their system as an overseas Filipino worker.