The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) on Sunday announced that the Czech Republic sees the Philippines as its next-door neighbor despite the geographical distance.

In a radio interview, DMW officer-in-charge Undersecretary Hans Leo Cacdac disclosed that from their recent working visit to the Central European country, there are more Filipinos than before.

“When I was the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration administrator about 10 years ago, there were only hundreds of overseas Filipino workers in the Czech Republic,” Cacdac said.

“When I returned there, of course, the President (Ferdinand Marcos Jr.) took me on his state visit, and there are about 6,500 OFWs in the Czech Republic, mostly in the manufacturing services, construction, and agricultural sectors,” he added.

The DMW official added that the dialogue that Marcos and Czech Republic President Petr Pavel had was robust, cordial, and warm.

“President Pavel said that the Philippines is like a next-door neighbor. They are far, in Europe, but the way they have been discussing and talking, the mutual areas of interest of President Marcos, it is like we are just neighbors,” Cacdac said.

A joint Communique on Labor Consultations Mechanism between the Philippines and the Czech Republic was signed during the visit, aimed at establishing a system to discuss areas of mutual interest, including proper procedures for employing Filipino citizens in the Central European country.

According to Cacdac, the quota doubled for Filipino workers from 5,000 to 10,000.