PH EMBASSY EXTENDS ASSISTANCE TO 200 RETURNING FILIPINOS STRANDED AT CHANGI AIRPORT
(21 December 2021, Singapore)— The Philippine Embassy in Singapore distributed food packs, clothing, medicines, face masks, hygiene kits and toiletries to almost 200 Filipino holiday travelers who were stranded at the Changi International Airport for several days after their connecting flight to Cebu was cancelled due to Super Typhoon Odette (international name Rai).
The Assistance-to-Nationals (ATN) Section and the Office of Workers Welfare Administration – Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) of the Philippine Embassy rushed food packs and care packs on 19 December and 20 December 2021 to ensure that the basic needs of the stranded passengers were fully addressed.
Philippine Embassy officials led by Chargé d’Affaires Adrian Bernie Candolada, Vice Consul Joy Anne Lai and Welfare Officer Marivic Clarin also visited the stranded passengers at the Changi airport to ascertain their well-being and assure them of the commitment of the Philippine government to attend to their needs while awaiting their flight home.
Since the Cebu-Mactan International Airport was still close to international flights as of 20 December 2021, 178 of the stranded passengers (including 1 infant) agreed to be flown directly to Manila after their carrier Scoot Airlines, in coordination with the Department of Foreign Affairs and OWWA-DOLE, had secured landing approval from the Philippine civil aviation authorities and the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on Emerging Infectious Diseases.
Some stranded passengers who are based in Singapore have decided to rebook their flights to Cebu. – END