In line with the directives of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has provided assistance to more than 2,500 repatriated overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who were affected by the crisis in the Middle East.
DSWD spokesperson Assistant Secretary Irene Dumlao of the DSWD’s Disaster Response and Management Group (DRMG) said a total of 2,110 repatriated OFWs were given psychosocial first aid (PFA).
The OFWs, who sought government assistance to facilitate their return to the country, arrived on flights from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), Israel, Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar.
Some 409 stranded OFWs, on the other hand, also received PFA from the DSWD.
These individuals were stranded at airports from the UAE, KSA, Bahrain, Kuwait, Ireland, Portugal, Iraq, and Oman due to travel restrictions arising from the ongoing conflict in the Gulf Region.
Aside from the PFA, the DSWD also provided over PHP1 million in financial assistance to 203 repatriated OFWs and medical assistance worth PHP300,000 to one OFW.
“Bawat OFW na dumarating ay agad na ina-aassess ng mga social workers ng DSWD upang malaman kung ano pa ang mga interbensyon na kailangan nila (Every arriving OFW is immediately assessed by our social workers to determine what additional interventions they need),” Dumlao said in a news release Monday.
She said the DSWD has also started distributing livelihood assistance to repatriated OFWs, with an initial five OFWs receiving PHP20,000 each from the Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP) as seed capital.
“Patuloy din po ang pakikipag-ugnayan ng aming mg Field Offices sa mga concerned government agencies para mabigyan din ng tulong ang iba pang mga dumating na OFWs (Our Field Offices also continue to coordinate with concerned government agencies to help the other OFWs),” she added.
The DSWD’s provision of livelihood assistance to OFWs is in line with the Marcos administration’s Unified Package for Livelihoods, Industry, Food, and Transport (UPLIFT) framework.
This framework features a whole-of-government response to deliver livelihood interventions to sectors affected by ongoing tensions in the Middle East.
“Makakaasa po ang ating mga kababayan na patuloy ang ginagawang koordinasyon ng DSWD sa Department of Migrant Workers (DMW), sa Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), at sa Department of Health (DOH) para magbigay ng karampatang tulong sa ating mga OFW repatriates (We assure our countrymen that the DSWD is continuously coordinating with the DMW, OWWA, DFA and the DOH for the provision of immediate assistance to our repatriated OFWs),” Dumlao said. (PNA)
