The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) assured overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) that they will not face penalties upon returning to the country, regardless of their documentation status.

“I just want to remind everyone that the mandate of the Department of Migrant Workers is to protect all OFWs, whether they are documented or undocumented,” OWWA Deputy Administrator Jasmine Ann Gapatan said in an interview.

“So, there are no consequences or negative implications for you,” she added.

Gapatan encouraged undocumented workers to formalize their status to access full government assistance. She said repatriation efforts continue amid the conflict in the Middle East.

“Just yesterday, 153 OFWs from Bahrain returned to the country. This is a commercial flight where the tickets were purchased by OWWA,” she said.

“This was followed by 344 people from Dubai who are being repatriated, and on 15 April, there will be 321 people from Kuwait,” she added.

Gapatan said OWWA has sufficient funds and programs to support returning workers, including food, hygiene kits, and transportation to their home provinces.

She added that the agency is developing a “step-up program” to upskill and reskill repatriated OFWs.

“So they can have peace of mind knowing they will be reintegrated and will have a better life when they go. We are looking at a step-up program wherein we are going to upskill and reskill our OFWs when they go back here,” she said.

Gapatan also said no Filipinos have been reported killed in Beirut, Lebanon, although evacuation and voluntary repatriation efforts are ongoing.