OWWA sends home add’l 17K OFWs to provinces last week

FILE: Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) heading to their hometowns after completing mandatory quarantine queue at the departure area of Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 2 during a send-off on Tuesday (May 26, 2020) (PNA photo by Avito C. Dalan)

MANILA – Some 17,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) have been transported back to their respective provinces last week, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) said on Wednesday.

In a Twitter post, OWWA Administrator Hans Leo Cacdac said a total 17,085 Filipino workers from abroad are now in their homes in the different parts of the country.

“We had a quietly great week, 17,085 OFWs arrived safely in their home regions from August 10-August 16,” he said.

He acknowledged the teams at the Parañaque Integrated Exchange (PITX) and Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) for the help extended to the OFWs to be able to board buses and flights.

Earlier, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) reported that a total of 146,658 returning OFWs have been sent back to their home provinces as of August 15.

Aside from transportation, the returning Filipinos were provided hotel accommodation and other assistance while awaiting results of their coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) tests.

The government has started sending home returning and stranded OFWs due to the Covid-19 pandemic to their respective provinces since May via land, sea and air.