Home>News>Nation>320K OFWs safely home
Nation

320K OFWs safely home

LATEST data from the Department of Labor and Employment DoLE showed that the government has sent home close to 320,000 returning overseas Filipino workers.

In a report to Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWW) said 319,333 OFWs were transported to their respective provinces as of Saturday, Nov. 21, after they were cleared and tested negative of the corona virus.

The OWWA report said that for the month alone, 38,516 OFWs were flown and bused to their destinations.

OWWA took care of the OFWs’ hotel accommodations and food while waiting for the results of their COVID tests taken upon arrival in Manila. The DoLE agency also facilitated their transport back to their provinces as soon as they are cleared of COVID.

Bello said OWWA is relentless in looking after the needs of the returning OFWs.

“There is no stopping the government from extending the assistance to our dear OFWs. We have also enhanced our livelihood programs for the reintegration of our returning heroes,” he added.

The labor chief also said DoLE’s foreign posts continue to monitor the condition of OFWs and provide assistance in their respective jurisdictions.

Citing separate reports by the Philippine Overseas Labor Offices as of Sunday, Nov. 22, Bello said a good number of OFWs who were afflicted by COVID have recovered from the disease.

We are glad to note that we have a very good recovery rate among our COVID-stricken OFWs,” he said.

The labor chief noted, for instance, that among the 111 infected Filipinos in Israel, 103 had already recovered while there was no fresh report of mortality among the 3,577 afflicted OFWs in Qatar.

Of the monitored Filipinos in Europe, 108 had recovered in Spain, eight in France, 5 in Portugal, and 6 in Andorra. There were 82 recoveries in Germany, while the rest are still recovering. All seven confirmed cases among Filipinos in Belgium had recovered, while the two cases each in the Netherlands and Luxembourg had also recovered.

In Russia, meanwhile, the 29 confirmed COVID cases among OFWs had all recovered.

It is my ardent hope that no more OFWs get infected and become sick of COVID while they continue to sacrifice being away from their family,” Bello said