01 February 2010 - The remaining Filipinos in Haiti who have signified their intention of going home are expected to arrive in two batches on the early morning of Thursday and Friday.
A batch of 11 Filipinos is expected to leave on February 2 and arrive on February 4 and the final batch of 30 is expected to leave on February 3 and arrive February 5.These Filipinos are currently in Santo Domingo, Domincan Republic as their transit visas to the United States are being arranged. Currently, the Philippine Embassy in Washington D.C. is coordinating with the US authorities to facilitate the early release of the transit visas of these repatriates.
They will take a plane ride from there to Miami, then to Los Angeles, then home to Manila.
Twenty-three Filipinos arrived in three batches from Haiti starting last Friday and over the weekend.
Earlier, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto G. Romulo convened the Philippine Task Force for Recovery, Relief, Assistance and Repatriation in Haiti to review actions taken and map out future plans to assist Filipinos in the earthquake-stricken Caribbean state.
The Task Force also reviewed previous actions taken by the Philippine Government in response to the earthquake.
These include the US$50,000 humanitarian assistance the Philippines extended to Haiti, as well as the deployment of the Department of Health (DOH)-led medical team to Port-au-Prince.