Over 1 M OFWs to lose jobs by 2021

Published May 29, 2020, 6:37 PM

A total of 1,005,031 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) may be displaced by December, 2021, because of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) told the House of Representatives on Friday.

Alice Visperas of the DOLE-International Labor Affairs Bureau (ILAB) revealed the expected job loss during her presentation at the virtual hearing of the House Committee on Overseas Workers’ Affairs (OWA) Friday afternoon.

“The sea-based OFWs are 40 percent, while the other 60 percent are land-based,” Visperas said of the figure.

DOLE data showed that the actual OFW displacement as of May, 2020, was already 323,537, with 238,362 coming from the Middle East alone.

By the agency’s projection, the number will rise to 609,317 by December, 2020; 846,429 by June, 2021; and 1,005,031 by December, 2021.

Of the final figure, 32,474 OFWs will have come from Asia; 170,526 from Europe and the Americas; and 801,531 from the Middle East.

Visperas gave the presentation in response to observations from committee members during last week’s hearing that DOLE supposedly lacked long-term projections or plans in connection with OFW displacement amid the global health crisis.

She also told House members about the agency’s ongoing OFW assistance and recovery programs, which include the dole out of financial assistance for COVID-infected OFWs; financial assistance for displaced OFWs; food, medical assistance; and repatriation assistance, among others.

Visperas said that the cash assistance for COVID-infected and displaced OFWs is $200 each, meaning a migrant Filipino who had the unfortunate fate of contracting COVID-19 and losing his or her job would get $400.

Some 204,209 OFWs – 177,117 land-based and 27,092 sea-based – have received amelioration from these various programs, she bared.

But as for medium and long-term interventions – the types of assistance that would actually help the returning OFWs gain some form of livelihood – Visperas said DOLE would need additional funds worth a whopping P15.3 billion.

“Huwag ka pong mabibigla (Please don’t be startled),” Visperas told committee chairman, TUCP party-list Rep. Raymond Democrito Mendoza before revealing amount.

She said the money would cover the affected OFWs’ skills training/development and reintegration preparedness, employment facilitation and workers’ protection, and counseling and medical assistance.

SOURCE: https://news.mb.com.ph/2020/05/29/over-1-m-ofws-to-lose-jobs-by-2021/