AT least 60,000 more overseas Filipino workers (OFW) are expected to be repatriated this year amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
Citing a report from the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (Owwa), Labor and Employment Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III said between 60,000 and 80,000 OFWs abroad have already filed rerquests with the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) to be brought home.
They are part of the 520,000 OFWs reported by POLO to have been displaced by the economic slowdown caused by the pandemic since last year. As of Saturday, Bello said 410,211 of the displaced OFWs are now back in the country.
“After their ordeal in their country of origin, our dear OFWs were all provided accommodation, food, transportation and cash assistance by the government. Now, they are safely home with their families,” Bello said in a statement.
New variant
The labor chief said they are closely monitoring the status of OFWs abroad, especially with the spread of the more infectious variants of the Covid-19.
“There is no room for complacency. We cannot let our guard down. Despite the availability of Covid vaccines in your country of work, the virus remains an imminent threat to your health and safety,” Bello said.
Currently, he said they are focused in the Middle East, which recorded cases of infection among OFWs at 7,844 as of January 13.
Currently, the International Labor Affairs Bureau (ILAB) said the POLOs were able to register 619 OFWs who died from Covid-19 and another 3,667 others, who recovered from it.
Data from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) showed there were 13,543 OFWs infected with the disease as of Jan. 16, 2021.