There are high-paying jobs here, Labor secretary tells OFWs

THE Department of Labor and Employment on Tuesday urged Filipinos working in Syria to come home, saying that there are high-paying jobs awaiting them. She added that the government will assist overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) repatriated from Syria.

“For OFWs in Syria who will return to the Philippines, we encourage them to remain in the country because there are jobs and other non-wage employment opportunities that are waiting for them, where the pay or income is much greater than their salaries as domestic service workers in Syria,” Baldoz said.

“If they remained in the country, we could better protect them. It will also minimize the social cost of being away from their homeland which could be higher in vulnerable occupations like domestic work,” she added.

Baldoz also urged Filipinos in the strife-torn country to avail of the government’s mandatory repatriation program and gave assurances that displaced workers will be given sufficient support under the National Reintegration Program for OFWs.

Under the Balik-Pinay, Balik-Hanap-buhay Program, the National Reintegration Center for OFWs (NRCO) of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, an attached agency of the DOLE, a P10,000 livelihood/business development assistance is given to returning women workers.

Since it was implemented, the NRCO has disbursed P16.923 million to 1,630 OFWs and eight OFW groups.

OFW returnees from Syria can also avail of the government’s skills training program, where they can learn various skills such as haircutting, foot spa, food processing, massage, reflexology, baking, native snack preparation, handicraft making, flower arrangement, dress making, and beauty care.

OFWs who want to put up a bigger business can avail themselves of the low-interest, collateral-free loans offered under the P2-billion OFW Reintegration Program where borrowers can get as much as P2 million. –ROMMEL C. LONTAYAO, Manila Times