44 Filipinos from Japan arrived in Manila

MANILA – Forty-four Filipinos who availed of the government's repatriation program for Filipino nationals living within 50-kilometers of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan arrived in Manila Sunday afternoon.

Philippine Ambassador to Japan Manuel Lopez accompanied the repatriates who arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 2 at 1:18 p.m. on board Philippine Airlines flight 431.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario was there at the airport to welcome them.

Lopez said the travel documents of the repatriates were processed in Omiya in central Japan’s Saitama prefecture.

He added that prior to their departure for the Philippines, the repatriates went through proper health screening at radiation screening facilities run by the Japanese government in the area.

The Department of Foreign Affairs last week ordered the mandatory repatriation of Filipinos within the 50-kilometer radius of the nuclear power plant. Also, Filipinos located within the 50 to 100 kilometers radius would be offered voluntary repatriation.

The Philippine embassy in Tokyo has given Filipinos in Japan until Wednesday to decide whether to return to the Philippines to avoid threats of nuclear exposure.

In an advisory, the embassy said it has already set April 20, Wednesday, as the last day of repatriation to Manila.

Del Rosario said there is a combined estimate of 2,000 Filipino nationals living in the 100-kilometer zone although they are not expecting that all will choose to be repatriated.

Embassy officials said those looking to be repatriated may contact the Philippine embassy at telephone number 03-5562-1607, or e-mail at emergency@philembassy.net.

The foreign affairs said it will shoulder the full cost of repatriation of the Filipino nationals from Japan.

Meanwhile, the PAL announced on Friday it will cut its Japan-to-Philippines fares by a third.

The airline said the reduced fares are just enough to recover actual cost of operating the flights, such as jet fuel, landing and parking fees, crew salaries, other airport fees, among others. (PNA/AMN/Sunnex)