OVER 630,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFW) were displaced as the economy slid into a crawl, according to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).
Citing the report from the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III said a total of 502,581 of the said OFW are now back in the country.
Another 49,698 are still waiting for their repatriation, while the remaining 75,297 opted to stay in their host country based from the separate report of the International Labor Affairs Bureau (Ilab).
Last month, OWWA Administrator Hans Leo J. Cacdac said they are anticipating another 80,000 OFWs to 100,000 OFWs will be coming home this year.
Aside from affecting the employment of 627,576 workers, Ilab Director Alice Q. Visperas also reported the pandemic infected 17,495 OFWs as of Sunday.
“Of this figure, 10,155 recovered with 938 deaths,” Visperas said.
This was higher compared to the 16,406 OFWs, who tested positive for Covid-19 and were registered by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) as of April 4, 2021.
Other aid
ASIDE from repatriation services, the government also provided other assistance to OFWs affected by the lockdown measures against Covid-19.
Among those displaced and infected because of the pandemic, Bello said 497,122 received a cash aid worth P5.043 billion through their “Abot Kamay Ang Pagtulong for OFWs,” or Akap, program.
The Akap is a one-time cash assistance of $200 or P10,000 for each qualified affected and/or displaced OFW.
The OWWA was also able to distribute $1.93 million in cash assistance separate from AKAP to 9,667 OFW Covid patients.
For its part, DOLE released US$2.6 million in medical and food aid to 124,945 OFWs abroad through its Philippine Overseas Labor Offices (Polo).
“Our government will not renege on its commitment to provide the needed assistance to our OFWs,” Bello said. “We will continue to assist them for as long as it takes.”
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