OFWs start returning for holidays

MANILA, Philippines - The exodus of expatriate Filipinos wanting to spend the holidays in their homeland in the longest Christmas season in the world had apparently started on Sunday following the arrival of six planeloads of mostly overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) from the Middle East.
Separate flights from Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia also flew in, adding to the flood of passengers that suddenly filled the airport arrival area.
The addition of some 30 personnel from the Immigration Bureau helped facilitate the processing of documents of an estimated 3,000 passengers taking only one hour.
The first plane was an Etihad Airways Flight EY 424 which landed at 3:30 p.m., followed in succession by Emirates, EK-332; Saudia, SB-870; Gulf Air, GF-156; Kuwait, KU-411; and Qatar, QR-646.
All of the airplanes that came from the Middle East are wide-body type, such as EY-424, a B777 that has a capacity of 300 passengers. The other aircraft were A330 and A340, while Cathay Pacific CX-919 from Hong Kong is a B-747 with a capacity of some 350 passengers.
Damila Jamali, who is from Zamboanga, came in from Dubai with her two children. “Magbakasyon kami ng pamilya ko ng isang buwan kasi malungkot sa abroad ang Pasko [We will vacation here for a month because Christmas is lonely abroad],” she said, adding that she had been working abroad the last two years.
Another OFW, Ben Castro, 35, of Quezon City said he also applied for a one-month vacation, the first since leaving the country in 2009. “I miss my family very much,” he said.
Immigration Supervisor Julius Cortes said they expect the flood of arrivals until shortly before Christmas, when close to 1 million workers, balikbayan and Filipino-Amercian tourists, will come home and enjoy the company of family and friends.
He said last year’s record from December 1 to December 7 was more than 200,000 passengers, comprising mostly of workers and balikbayan.
The actual figure of arrivals from January to December 2010 was more than 6 million passengers, Cortes said, hoping that it will reach the same number this year, or maybe even more.
Dante Basanta, Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) Terminal 1 manager said it is at this time of the year when the arrival area practically runs out of trolleys.
However, he said the Manila International Airport Authority is prepared to deal with the expected problem, fielding more porters to speed up the recycling of trolleys that are sometime left at the parking areas.
More Naia employees are also assigned during peak arrival hours to assist those who are in need, he said.

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