Diaspora in reverse: 300 OFWs displaced by COVID-19 abroad back in Bicol
LEGAZPI CITY — Nearly 300 Filipinos who had jobs abroad and lost these when the COVID-19 pandemic struck have returned to their hometowns in the Bicol region.
Rowena Alzaga, spokesperson of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) in Bicol, said the agency had listed 358 displaced Bicolano overseas Filipino workers (OFW) of which 278 had already returned to the region.
Camarines Sur had the highest number of displaced OFWs with 124; followed by Albay,81; Sorsogon, 32; Camarines Norte, 31; Masbate, seven and Catanduanes, three.
Records from OWWA showed that 70 percent or 190 OFWs were sea-based while only 88, or 30 percent, were land-based workers.
Alzaga said the OWWA, through a program called “Uwian Na (Coming Home), provided the displaced OFWs with transportation, meals and endorsements to quarantine facilities.
Alzaga said the displaced OFWs could also apply for cash aid at the Department of Labor and Employment’s (DOLE) program called Abot Kamay ang Pagtulong. Beneficiaries could get as much as P10,000 from the DOLE program.
Edited by TSB
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