More than 4,700 people have signed a petition on change.org demanding a zero contact policy in ports around the world. The campaign was started by Mukta Kumar, the wife of a seafarer and keen Splash reader.
Ninety percent of global trade is carried on ships. Filipino seafarers account for 25 percent of the global seafarers. They sent home close to $7 billion in 2019, representing approximately 23 percent of total estimated remittances to the Philippines.
The Department of Foreign Affairs said 447 Filipinos from the United Kingdom and Thailand were repatriated on Friday afternoon and were welcomed at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) has started releasing the $200 or P 10,000 financial assistance to seafarers who were displaced due to coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.
