MANILA -- Forty-four Filipinos living in the nuclear danger zone in the Japanese northeastern prefecture of Fukushima arrived Sunday.

There are around 2,000 Filipinos living in Fukushima, where a damaged power plant has been leaking radiation since being hit by a powerful quake and tsunami on March 11.

The evacuees, who flew in from Tokyo, arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on Sunday afternoon and were met by acting Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario and Philippine Airlines president Jaime Bautista.

Philippine Ambassador to Japan Manuel Lopez escorted the Filipinos -- 19 mothers and 25 children -- on board a commercial PAL flight from Narita.

メWe offered voluntary repatriation as a humanitarian option for those concerned,モ Lopez said.

PAL extended discounted fares to the Philippine Embassy for the repatriates.

Initially, 55 Filipinos have signed up for repatriation at the embassy.

But 44 have turned up and were fetched by an embassy consular team in Fukushima City on Saturday. They were brought to Narita, where the embassy had arranged for their overnight stay.

The Philippine Embassy has extended the next and final repatriation on Wednesday, April 20. DMS