Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin, Jr. has welcomed 13 more Filipinos from Ukraine who crossed the border to Poland.
Locsin met the evacuees at the Rava-Ruska-Hrebenne Border Crossing Station in Poland, who were on board the bus after a five-hour wait.
Department of Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Sarah Lou Arriola said 12 of the evacuees are Filipinos, with one child with them.
According to a media release, they were led by the Philippine Ambassador to Poland Leah Basinang-Ruiz, and were also given food and bottled water.
Arriola told DZRH on Sunday that the evacuees are currently waiting in Poland for repatriation flights to the Philippines.
"Nasa Warsaw, Poland, sila ngayon. They are just waiting for repatriation. We just have to find flights for them, tsaka kailangan pa silang i-test sa COVID bago sila mapasakay sa eroplano," she said in an interview.
(They are in Warsaw, Poland, now. They are just waiting for repatriation. We just have to find flights for them, and we still need to test them for COVID before they are allowed to board the plane.)
Locsin arrived in Poland on Saturday to help welcome Filipino evacuees from Ukraine, amid escalating tensions with Russia.
The secretary said that Filipinos who want to get repatriated may contact the Philippine embassies in Poland and Hungary so they can be safely brought home.
"We are on high-alert 24/7 to ensure that Filipinos are safe in this conflict. Our Embassies in Poland and Hungary have been working hard these past days to account for each Filipino in Ukraine and to repatriate them as soon as possible. Our people only need to ask, and we will get them home safe," said Locsin.
The official previously said there are 181 Filipinos in Ukraine, and they can receive assistance in the form of repatriation, care packages, and cash aid from the country’s honorary consulate in Kyiv.
