DoLE, DMW intensify OFW support amid Middle East crisis

Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) displaced by the ongoing crisis in the Middle East were met with a comprehensive government support package Monday during a regional reintegration summit.

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. led the “Bayanihan Para sa Balikbayang Manggagawa” initiative at the Leyte National High School Gymnasium. The program serves as a central platform for returning workers to access immediate employment, livelihood support and social protection.

The Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) and the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) spearheaded the effort, which aims to ease the transition of repatriated Filipinos back into the local economy through a “whole-of-government” approach.

During the event, DoLE Regional Office VIII facilitated a job fair offering 664 local positions, while the DMW presented 1,904 overseas job orders for those seeking to return abroad.

Out of the 76 applicants who registered at the fair, five individuals — including two repatriated OFWs — were hired on the spot.