MANILA - The Philippines will repatriate another 100,000 Filipinos affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in the next 2 months, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. said Friday.

In an interview with online program "Usapang Community Quarantine," the country's chief envoy said he has realigned the agency's budget to bring Filipinos home after losing their jobs abroad.

"My mandate from President [Rodrigo] Duterte was very clear. When that man looks at you and he says, 'I want my people home,' it's as if he was talking about his children. I'm not gonna disappoint him," he said.

Locsin said he stopped repairs on the Department of Foreign Affairs' building to augment the budget for repatriation. The agency's P1-billion fund is now down to P150 million.

"I got it out. I took out the money. I said, 'No. This one goes to the repatriation of our Filipinos,'" he said.

According to Locsin, the Philippine government is intervening on behalf of Filipinos with financial obligations just to bring them home.

"When they need to go home, in some cases, we pay for it," he said.

"If some employers [say] 'No, that person owes me money.' We'll see what we can do. We beg. We plead. Maybe we can raise a little money."

The DFA chief said the Philippines has so far repatriated more than 100,000 Filipinos since the pandemic began in February.

"It's the biggest repatriation ever in our history, possibly the biggest repatriation anywhere of any country in the world," he said.

"I don't care what the critics here are saying about this government. The rest of the world are astonished at the scale and success of our repatriation. It's never been done."

To date, the number of Filipinos abroad who got sick with COVID-19 climbed to 9,472, with 65 new infections reported Friday. Of the total tally, some 666 people have succumbed to the disease, 5,531 have recovered while 3,275 are still being treated for COVID-19.

The Middle East and Africa led with most infections, followed by Europe, Asia Pacific Region and Americas.

• DFA: 65 more overseas Filipinos catch COVID-19; no new fatalities reported