MANILA, Philippines — Tinulungan ng pamahalaan ang 90 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), kasama ang ilang dependents, na makauwi sa bansa sa gitna ng umiigting na sigalot sa Middle East, ayon sa Department of Migrant Workers (DMW).
Sa press briefing sa Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3, sinabi ni Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac na naghahanda ang gobyerno ng karagdagang repatriation efforts, kabilang ang chartered flights.
Sa 90 OFWs, sinabi ni Cacdac na 33 ang may plane tickets na binayaran ng pamahalaan habang ang iba naman ay may sarili nang tickets ngunit na-stranded dahil sa flight disruptions.
“And this flight is no different, especially in the context of the current conflict in the Middle East, and we welcome those who had a hard time coming home or were stranded or were worried about whether they could go home or not. So, finally, they are here,” ayon kay Cacdac.
Dagdag niya, nagbigay ang gobyerno ng pre-repatriation at post-repatriation assistance sa mga OFW, kabilang ang temporary accommodation, transport support, at financial aid.
“So let’s be clear, many of them still had their tickets with them, yung mga na-cancel ang previous flights, or they had bookings prior to this flight na inorder na nila. So in other words, sila sumagot ng kanilang flight ticket. But 33 of them were sponsored by the DMW and the OWWA. Now, for everybody, we gave either pre-repatriation assistance and most of them post-repatriation assistance,” paliwanag ni Cacdac.
Ayon naman kay Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) Administrator Patricia Yvonne Caunan, karamihan sa mga repatriate ay mula sa United Arab Emirates, partikular sa Dubai at Abu Dhabi, habang ang iba ay nagtrabaho sa Saudi Arabia at Bahrain.
Kabilang sa mga umuwing OFWs ang mga propesyunal sa iba’t ibang larangan tulad ng engineering, pagtuturo, caregiving, sales at retail, domestic service, architecture, design, at manufacturing.
“I would say a lot of them are, some have contracts, end of contract now, but most of them are still employed. So maybe they hope that when the conflict ceases, they can return to their employers,” ayon kay Caunan.
Sinabi ni Cacdac na isang buwang gulang na sanggol ang pinakabatang repatriate, habang kabilang din sa mga dumating ang ilang bata at senior citizens.
Sa pinakahuling bilang, mahigit 400 Pilipino na ang natulungan ng pamahalaan sa pamamagitan ng repatriation at kaugnay na suporta.
Ayon kay Cacdac, nakapagtakda na ang pamahalaan ng mga exit routes sa walong bansa na apektado ng sigalot, ngunit hindi niya ibinunyag ang mga ito dahil sa security reasons. Dagdag niya, dahil sarado o may limitasyon ang ilang paliparan, maaaring kailanganing bumiyahe ng mga OFW sa pamamagitan ng lupa patungo sa mas ligtas na lugar bago makasakay ng eroplano pauwi ng Pilipinas.
“And what we do is that we provide certain, we have identified in each of these eight countries that are involved, certain points of exit where OFWs could be remunerated to safer ground and eventually flow back to the Middle East. I won’t mention these particular points of exit,” ani Cacdac.
Upang mapabilis ang repatriation, sinabi niya na naghahanda ang pamahalaan ng charter flights na iaanunsyo sa mga susunod na araw. Dave Baluyot
