Son honours father's word to repatriate Filipinos

Dubai: This year's Eid Al Fitr will be memorable to 35 Filipino distressed workers as they will be reunited with their families in Manila today. The workers, mostly women working in households in various parts of the UAE, were repatriated on Sunday.

Senate President Pro Temporary Jose "Jinggoy" Estrada arrived in Dubai on Thursday evening to oversee the repatriation of the workers sheltered in houses run by the Philippine diplomatic mission in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

In an exclusive interview with Gulf News, Estrada, son of former Philippine president Joseph Estrada, said he had to see to it that the promise made by the former head of state to bring some of the workers home before the end of Ramadan was fulfilled.

"Former president Estrada made the promise in June when we came here for a visit and he tasked me to personally ensure that this is done," he said.

Eduardo Burgos Jr, the senator's aide, said most of the workers worked as domestic helpers or were victims of illegal manpower recruiters in Manila.