27 displaced Ilonggo OFWs seek OWWA assistance
Global recession has hit the homes of Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) families here in Iloilo and elsewhere in Western Visayas region.
With corporate giants in Europe, the Middle East and America folding up operations or shutting down one branch after the other, Ilonggo OFWs are forced to go home.
To date, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) Regional Office 6 worked on granting requests for assistance of 27 displaced workers.
Qatar skilled workers top the most number of affected Ilonggo retrenched OFWs followed by those forced to go home from Taiwan, Singapore, Kuwait, Nigeria, South Korea and Hongkong.
James Mendiola, OWWA acting regional director called on the OFWs and their families to manage well every dollar earned abroad.
“Global recession or not, our OFWs and OFW families have to remember that jobs abroad are not permanent. For as long as you are a worker and not an immigrant, at some point of your life you will have to return back to the Philippines. Make the most of the money earned abroad and save for the future,” Mendiola said when reached by The News Today (TNT).
The OWWA will extend livelihood assistance of P50,000 (roughly $1,000) to 20 of the 27 Ilonggo OFWs who sought OWWA help. The money is payable in 2 years. Other affected workers sought job referrals and skills training.
The 27 Ilonggo workers were all repatriated to the Philippines after the closure of their respective companies. More are expected as the global recession worsens and international firms announce major cuts on workforce.
In the past week alone, Panasonic, Kodak, Toyota, Ford and Starbucks are among the latest companies to announce job cuts and closure of plants. Yet a number more in Middle East where most of the global workforce are Filipinos likewise follow suit.
TNT learned of another group of affected Ilonggo workers affected by the recession yet unable to be in the category where OWWA can come in for assistance.
Validation is currently underway on the circumstances surrounding the plight of 16 Ilonggo male skilled workers set for deployment in Dubai.
The 16 already had work contracts, work visas and the final step to deployment – Pre-Departure Orientation Seminar (PDOS). Scheduled trip would have been in second week of December yet days before the trip, the company announced closure of operations.
Now in debt between P30,000 to P80,000 in pre-deployment expenses, the group seeks assistance albeit unsure where with work visas now expired.
Another group of Ilonggo sea-based workers decried the slowdown of the Japan trip following the failure of the company ship to leave port. While paid of basic salary, not certain is when the group will be able to leave since the company’s major client is Toyota.
Similar stories of recession aftershocks from US-based Filipino-American migrant workers with the dollar remittances lowest in the past six months.