What has been considered a disastrous mishap of a landing by a Chinese aircraft at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) last August 16 has resulted to over thousands of passengers including OFWs, stranded at the airport while waiting for flights to resume.
The closure of the airport runway ultimately delayed hundreds of scheduled flights including those of OFWs who were expected by their employers. It is for this reason that several embassies overseas including that of Singapore and Egypt have offered to provide certification for those OFWs affected by the runway incident, as shared in a report by UNTV.
Embassies in Singapore, Egypt to issue Certification for returning OFWs stranded at NAIA Runway Closure
The runway incident had not only affected travel operations in the country, but could have far more damaging repercussions as far as the employment of OFWs affected are concerned, as explained by OFW welfare and advocacy group Migrante.
The rights group further explained that an apology from Xiamen Air and from government officials involved in the incident is “not enough” and that due compensation must be given to OFWs who face the risk of losing their jobs because of the untoward incident.
Thousands of passengers – mostly OFWs – were left stranded in the airport as they were still dealing with cancelled or delayed flights even 4 days after the NAIA runway incident.
To this development, the Overseas Workers Welfare Adminstration (OWWA) Adminstrator Hans Leo Cacdac shared that their agency is providing on-the-ground assistance to the immediate needs of the affected OFWs at the airport. Also, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) had already extended financial assistance of PHP 5,000 to each OFW affected in the incident.
Meanwhile, OFWs bound for Singapore were encouraged by their embassy to send in a copy of their travel itinerary to prove that they have been affected by the NAIA runway closure together with their foreign employer’s name, company, and contact details, so that they may be issued with a certification to explain their late arrival or return to work. The embassy encourages OFWs to email all the necessary information through sgpeatn@gmail.com as soon as possible.