10K Filipinos asking Thai gov’t to extend visa validity —envoy

By HANA BORDEY, GMA News Some 10,000 Filipinos are pleading for the extension of the validity of their visa in the Kingdom of Thailand, Philippine Ambassador Millicent Cruz-Paredes said Friday. “Aabot na sa 10,000 ang mga sulat na nagawa namin, appealing to the government of Thailand para ma-extend ang pamamalagi dito [ng mga Filipino],” Cruz-Paredes said during the Laging Handa briefing. (We have processed nearly 10,000 letters appealing for the host government to extend the stay of Filipinos here.) Also, the Philippine Embassy in Bangkok received numerous request to extend the passport validity of some Filipinos, she added. Likewise, Paredes said they already held discussions with Thailand officials to include Filipinos in their vaccination program. Currently, there are around 30,000 Filipinos in this Southeast Asian country. On the other hand, Cruz-Paredes said the Embassy has so far recorded a total of 30 COVID-19 cases among Filipinos in Thailand. Of the number, two are active cases, 27 have recovered, and one died. She said the Filipino community in Thailand is also taking extra preventive measures in the middle of the third surge in COVID cases. “Ang Filipino community po dito sa Thailand ay siyempre nag-iingat at nababahala dahil sa mga tumataas na bilang ng kaso ng COVID-19 dito” (The Filipino community is concerned about the surge in the number of infections), she said. According to her, the current surge was due to the entry of new coronavirus variants. “Kami po ay nasa third wave right now. The second wave happened around December dahil po sa pagpasok ng migrant workers” (We are on the third wave right now. The second occurred around December, attributed to the entry of migrant workers), she said. “Ang pangatlong wave happened around March this year. Iyon po ay nakitaan ng pagpasok na ng mga variant” (The third wave occurred around March this year, believed caused by the emergence of new coronavirus variants), she added. —LBG, GMA News

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