Senator Joel Villanueva speaks during a Senate hearing on February 24, 2020. (Senate PRIB/Henzberg Austria)
Senator Joel Villanueva, committee chairman, said the DOFIL, if created, must respond to the needs of the overseas Filipino workers (OFW) following the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
“The design of DOFIL should meet the country’s need of navigating a post-pandemic world that will be challenging to OFWs. By the time the DOFIL will be in full operation, it will be a ‘changed world’. And we are not designing tomorrow’s agency on the specs and the needs of yesterday,” Villanueva said as he ordered the formation of a technical working group to finalize the committe’s report on the bill creating the DOFIL.
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(JANSEN ROMERO / MANILA BULELTIN)
“502,581 (OFWs) have been repatriated and sent to their home provinces,” Department of Labor and Employment-Information and Publication Service (DOLE-IPS) Director Rolly Francia told labor beat reporters on Easter Sunday, April 4.
The figure was based on Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) head Hans Leo Cacdac’s report to Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III. According to the OWWA report, the repatriates have been safely transported back to theIr home provinces after undergoing COVID tests and quarantine protocols in various hotels.
A total of 1,471 individuals comprised the latest batch of OFWs who were sent home on Black Saturday, DOLE said.
More than half a million overseas Filipino workers whose livelihood were affected by the COVID-19 crisis have been repatriated since the start of the pandemic, according to the Department of Labor and Employment.