Over 350K returning OFWs back in hometowns

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 353,000 repatriated overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) displaced by the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic have been transported back to their provinces, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said on Thursday.

“Some 353,000 returning OFWs are now in their provinces as of this (morning)…that’s at the rate of 1,000 to 3,500 a day…,” Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said in a virtual forum.

The returning workers are being assisted back to their home provinces through air, land and sea transportation.

Bello also reported that they are expecting some 80,000 OFWs to return home by the end of this month.

Meanwhile, Bello said new markets are emerging for OFWs abroad.

He added that jobs are waiting for Filipinos in China, Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, and Canada.

The jobs available are for teachers and skilled workers nurses and caregivers.

“The market for our OFWs is increasing but we are ensuring that the countries where they will be deployed are Covid-19 -free because we don’t want our fellowmen to be exposed to the virus but the job opportunities are there,” he said.