DOLE: Majority of OFWs displaced by the COVID-19 pandemic don’t want to be repatriated

By Leslie Ann Aquino, Manila Bulletin, 2 Jun 2020

More than 300,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are affected by the COVID-19 pandemic but majority of them don’t want to be repatriated, the Department of Labor and Employment said on June 2, Tuesday.

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III revealed that of the 341,161 OFWs displaced by COVID, only 95,000 are asking for repatriation.

“Probably you are wondering why of the 341,000 only 95,000 are stranded? You will ask me what happened to the more than 100,000?” he said in a press briefing in Malacañang.

“I myself was surprised that more than almost 200,000 of them do not want to come home. They would rather stay, especially those [in] America, Europe, Rome, Madrid, United Kingdom,” added Bello.

He also revealed that of the 42,000 OFWs expected to return to the country supposedly by the end of June, only 16,000 can be repatriated due to lack of clearance.

“We received report from our labor attache[s] abroad and they informed us that of the 42,000 OFWs, only 16,679 would be able to return. Why? Because they were able to complete their papers, the iqama or exit visa,” Bello said.

“So only 16,679 will be coming and some are coming already. More than 1,000 of them already arrived,” he added.

On May 31, the Labor department said the number of OFWs stranded in various parts of the world is nearly 100,000, and majority of them are in the Middle East.

DOLE said these stranded OFWs were either affected by lockdowns in their respective host countries seeking to be repatriated or those whose work contracts have expired but cannot return to the Philippines due to the absence of commercial flights.

Meanwhile, Bello said they are planning to ask for additional budget as more OFWs are seeking the cash assistance from their “Abot Kaya ang Pagtulong” (AKAP) program

“Originally, we asked for a budgetary allocation of P1.5 billion because we estimated that there would be at least 150,000 displaced OFWs. But it turned out, when we were accepting applications for cash assistance, we already received 450,000 applications for cash assistance. That’s the reason [why] we asked for additional budgetary allocation. Fortunately, the President approved the additional budget allocation of P1 billion. So we received a total of P2.5 billion,” he said.

So far, Bello said 145,000 OFWs have already benefitted from the program.

“We still have more than P1 billion in our budget. But looking at the application that might not be enough. So we are again compelled to ask for additional budgetary allocation,” he said.

DOLE earlier said overseas workers, both land-based and sea-based, who have been displaced by lockdowns in foreign countries will be given, under the AKAP program, a one-time financial assistance amounting to P10,000 or $200, or the equivalent amount in their host countries’ currencies.