AS the pandemic continues to affect millions across the globe, including overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), the government will dedicate a separate chapter to migrant workers in the midterm update of the Philippine Development Plan (PDP).
National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) Undersecretary for Policy and Planning Rosemarie G. Edillon said this is a first for the PDP, which is now undergoing revision.
Edillon said the initial design of the PDP already included a chapter on OFWs, but the strategies that pertained to migration and development were mainstreamed in other PDP chapters.
“For this midterm update, it was already decided that there would be a separate chapter. One, because the Ofs [overseas Filipinos] and the international community could not readily place themselves in the PDP, even as we say that addressing their concerns is in almost every chapter of the PDP,” Edillon told the BusinessMirror on Wednesday.
“We [also] had a strong presence in the Global Compact on Migration, which culminated last year. And so, we [the Neda and the Department of Foreign Affairs] decided that the Philippines should set the example of how to integrate overseas Filipino concerns in the PDP and engage them in our development concerns,” she added.
Edillon said the chapter will include information on protecting OFWs’ rights and improving their well-being as well as participation in development and facilitating their reintegration in Philippine society.
This means intensifying social protection programs for migrant workers and their families, as well as facilitating effective service delivery to OFWs.
The chapter will also discuss strengthening bilateral and regional ties to help OFWs and providing sufficient assistance to nationals, as well as enhancing the education of migrant workers.
The chapter will also include strengthening financial inclusion initiatives and facilitating employment for returning OFWs. Edillon said the government seeks as well a successful socioeconomic reintegration of OFWs and their families.
The chapter, Edillon said, includes information on engaging OFWs, their families and other stakeholders, as well as strengthening the government. This means mainstreaming migration into local development planning and increasing overseas voter turnout.
A section on protecting OFWs rights and the well-being of foreign nationals in the country is planned. This means establishing a clear policy direction as a migrant-receiving country.
“It’s good to hear that there is now going to be a full chapter on OFWs so we can really address their needs and that of their families [as well as] prepare for their eventual return,” Ateneo Center for Economic Research and Development Director Alvin P. Ang said in the forum.
Mega crisis
In the same forum, Scalibrini Migration Center Director for Research and Publications Marla M.B. Asis said the pandemic is a “mega crisis.”
Asis said that while the coronavirus 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic is foremost a health crisis, it now has an economic, political and social dimension with the damage it is creating.
The pandemic has forced countries worldwide, including the Philippines, to close their borders and lock down communities, causing unprecedented disruption to the global economy.
“This pandemic is just unprecedented. It’s even threatening to become a humanitarian crisis in some regions in the country and also in some parts of the world,” Asis said.
According to a recent policy note, Ang and Institute for Migration and Development Issues Executive Director Jeremaiah M. Opiniano said a maximum of 400,000 OFWs could lose their jobs or suffer pay cuts due to the pandemic.
This will lead to a drop of 10 percent to 20 percent in remittances or by as much as $6 billion, they estimated.
Noting the ongoing massive repatriation of OFWs due to the pandemic and global recession this year, Edillon said the situation of returning OFWs is complicated by the tight job market in the country.
The OFWs who lost their jobs abroad will have to compete with domestic workers who are part of the same industries they are in.
“That’s why we are very, very keen on improving our health systems capacity because all of these things that we are talking about, it will actually all just fail if we cannot address our health problem,” Edillon said.
“So if we can address our health systems capacity to address this problem, then there’s that confidence and all the other business sectors can begin functioning again and there will be employment opportunities for our repatriated OFWs,” she added.
Help for OFWs
The welfare of repatriated OFWs and OFWs in general has been high on government priorities, Edillon said. As such, the government aided them through various programs.
Based on a May 19 report from the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, Edillon said the Hatid-Sundo or free transportation for OFWs brought 10,127 OFWs to and from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
OFW Kalinga program or temporary shelter for returning OFWs helped 12,588 migrant workers, while Tulong Marino provided food packs to seafarers and helped 7,123 OFWs.
Edillon said the government also helped 5,295 stranded OFWs with food, shelter and transportation for OFWs in the regions.
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