Ambassador Lopez Escorts 44 Filipino Repatriates from Fukushima
Secretary of Foreign Affairs Albert F. del Rosario (center) with Ambassador Manuel M. Lopez (2nd from right) and the repatriates from Japan.
17 April 2011. Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert F. del Rosario and Philippine Airlines (PAL) President Jaime Bautista welcomed the 44 Filipino repatriates upon their arrival Sunday afternoon from Tokyo, in light of the Philippine Government’s offer of repatriation for Filipinos living within the 100-kilometer radius of the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant in northeastern Japan.
Philippine Ambassador to Japan Manuel Lopez escorted the Filipinos – 19 mothers and 25 children – on board a commercial Philippine Airlines flight from Narita.
Philippine Airlines extended discounted fares to the Philippine Embassy for the repatriates.
The 44 Filipinos were fetched by a repatriation team of the Philippine Embassy in Tokyo from Fukushima City on Saturday. From there, they were brought to Narita, where the Embassy had arranged for their overnight stay.
The Philippines has implemented a repatriation program in line with its Contingency Plan, and in line with the Department of Foreign Affairs’ mandate of promoting the welfare of Filipino nationals abroad as a key pillar of Philippine foreign policy.
“We offered voluntary repatriation as a humanitarian option for those concerned,” Ambassador Lopez said. (photo by: Benjamin Remo, DFA-PISU)
