More than 545K OFWs home via ‘Hatid-Tulong’

MANILA – A total of 545,449 returning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) have been sent home to their provinces through the national government’s “Hatid-Tulong” program since last year.

In response to the call of President Rodrigo Duterte to send OFWs back to their provinces, the Department of Transportation joined the National Task Force Against Covid-19 (NTF) and other government agencies in assisting and transporting stranded OFWs in Metro Manila back to their hometowns, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) said in an update on Friday.

Of the total, the DOTr said 167,551 were transported by land from May 25 last year to April 29, 2021; 285,168 by air transport during the same period; and 92,730 via maritime transport since April 27 last year until Friday.

The Hatid-Tulong program is a joint initiative of the DOTr, NTF, Office of the President, Department of Labor and Employment, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, Philippine Coast Guard, Department of the Interior and Local Government, Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of Tourism, Philippine Ports Authority, Office for Transportation Security, Manila International Airport Authority, Land Transportation Office, and Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board.