MANILA — Twenty-four overseas Filipino workers detained in Russia for nearly nine months have been repatriated to the Philippines following a personal appeal by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to Russian President Vladimir Putin, officials said Sunday.
The workers arrived at Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 1 in two groups — six women landed around midnight, with 18 others, including 16 women and two men, touching down at approximately 4:05 a.m.
Department of Foreign Affairs Secretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro said Marcos secured the workers’ release during a bilateral meeting with Putin in Kazan on June 17, on the sidelines of the Russia-ASEAN Summit.
“This is, I think, the first time that the next day, after the President requested, the following day they were released,” Lazaro said. “I think this is also a testimony of the kind of relations that we have started and probably evolving and developing.”
One of the repatriated workers described a moment of sudden, overwhelming relief when guards at the detention center delivered the news.
“The next morning, the news came that said, ‘pack all your things and you go home,'” she said. “We were all overjoyed, shouting, crying out of joy that the long-awaited prayer of everyone has been answered.”
The worker said she had prayed specifically when she learned Marcos had arrived in Kazan. “When we found out that President Marcos arrived in Kazan, I said in our room, ‘Lord, let the miracle happen now that our President is here in Russia,'” she said.
Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac said the government is providing immediate financial aid, hotel accommodations, and free domestic flights for workers returning to provinces across Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) is covering accommodation costs.
Cacdac said longer-term reintegration support — including employment facilitation, livelihood programs, and skills training in cooperation with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority — will also be made available in the coming days.
He added that some workers have already approached him with urgent personal circumstances, including one with a special needs child and two others whose parents are seriously ill.
“We will bring it to the Department of Health and the Office of the President to see what comprehensive assistance can be provided,” he said.
Another returning worker expressed gratitude directly to the president. “Sir Marcos, thank you very, very much because your trip to Russia was the answer to our return here to the Philippines,” she said.
The circumstances surrounding the workers’ original detention in Russia were not immediately detailed by officials.
