The Department of Migrant Workers has received an additional P3 billion to augment the agency’s depleting funds for the repatriation and reintegration program for OFWs displaced by the Middle East conflict, announced by Executive Secretary Ralph Recto on Sunday.
According to Recto, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered its release to finance the whole “repatriation chain, from post- departure assistance, to flights, to reintegration.”
“War or not, there are Filipinos in extreme distress that we should bring home,” he said.
Government data showed that as of 17 June, 10,446 Filipinos have been safely returned to the Philippines from the Middle East by DMW-organized “humanitarian flights”, including 8,281 OFWs, 1,803 dependents, and 362 stranded citizens.
“If you will recall, these flights became medevacs for sick Filipinos as well. The DMW, through the leadership of Secretary Hans Cacdac, brought medical personnel on board to care for them,” Recto.
Further, Recto said that the President ordered the release of the funds “because the President does not want repatriation to be a mere airport-to-airport thing.”
“Ang utos niya ay hindi puwedeng paglapag dito, bahala na kayo. Ang gusto ng Pangulo, may hatid sa probinsya sa lubhang nangangailangan, at higit sa lahat mga economic opportunities,” Recto said.
Upon their arrival, the “standard welcome package” which they may avail of includes “financial assistance, psychosocial counseling, medical assessment, reemployment guidance, livelihood,” Recto said, citing a DMW briefer.
“By tapping the skills of the OFWs honed by their work abroad, society benefits as well. This is a kind of technology transfer that helps the economy. This is a brain gain we need,” he said.
To hasten the OFWs’ reintegration into the workforce, the DMW has already conducted 15 Bayanihan Para Sa Balikbayang Manggagawa National Reintegration Network and Job Fairs nationwide.
These one-stop-shop fairs network them to local and overseas work opportunities, livelihood support, and financial literacy programs, among other services.
The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, through its Balik Pinas, Balik Hanapbuhay Program, has also provided livelihood aid to 664 recently returned OFWs.
An OFW can receive up to P20,000 in small business start-up assistance.
For returning Philippine-licensed teachers, the Department of Education has also created a “hiring pathway” allowing them to teach in public schools, Recto said.
Latest data from DepEd said about 10,000 former OFWs had joined the public teaching corps through several administrations.