Filipinos in Myanmar seek document aid

A month after a significant earthquake struck Myanmar in March, the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) reported Thursday that no Filipino workers in the country have requested repatriation.

Instead, DMW Undersecretary for Foreign Employment and Welfare Felicitas Bay disclosed that the primary need among overseas Filipino workers in Myanmar has been the reconstruction of damaged or lost employment documents.

“That’s the first thing that we did upon [the arrival of] our team was to repair their contracts. So we verified their contracts. The affected ones were damaged or they couldn’t reconstitute their contracts,” Bay said.

A joint team from the DMW and the Migrant Workers Office (MWO) in Bangkok participated in the Philippine Embassy in Yangon’s inter-agency earthquake assistance program from 28 April to 2 May.

The DMW said approximately 58 Filipinos in Yangon and 11 from the MWO Bangkok received financial assistance. The agency also facilitated the employment of returning workers who lost their contracts at the Sky Villa building, with 32 employment contracts verified and five overseas employment certificates issued.

“The number is increasing because we have also announced... in the town hall meeting we have with OFWs in Myanmar that should they already be in the Philippines, they can also approach the DMW main office and the regional offices,” Bay said.

There are an estimated 800 Filipinos in Myanmar, with about 700 being OFWs. The majority, around 90 percent, are employed in schools as teachers and in non-academic roles such as librarians, counselors, and administrative staff.

Myanmar is currently under Alert Level 2, which restricts movement and limits deployment to returning workers only.