MANILA, Philippines — Around 31,700 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) have been repatriated by the Overseas Worker Welfare Administration (OWWA) and were sent home to their home provinces as of June 5, OWWA Administrator Hans Leo Cacdac said Saturday.
“Twenty-five thousand and two po ang napauwi from May 25 to May 31. And since that time, from June 1 naman po to June 1, mga 6,700 naman po ang nadagdag pang nauwi, kaya’t ang running total natin is 31,700,” Cacdac said during the Laging Handa online press briefing.
(Twenty-five thousand and two have been repatriated from May 25 to May 31. And since that time, from June 1 to June 5, around 6,700 have also gotten home. That’s why our running total is 31,700.)
OFWs were from the cruise ship industry were the most affected, Cacdac said, and they have since been repatriated.
“Yung mga nawalan ng trabaho ay mukhang natamaan talaga nitong cruise ship industry kung saan 25,000 na ang nakakauwi,” he said.
(Those who have lost their jobs seem to be from the cruise ship industry, where 25,000 of them have been sent home.)
“Mawawalan sila ng trabaho pansamantala lang naman, dahil sabi ng mga cruise ship employers, in fairness, sabi nila na once mag-resume, ire-rehire nila ang lahat,” he added.
(They will temporarily lose their jobs as cruise ship employers, in fairness to them, said that they will rehire their employees once operations resume.)
As for the land-based OFWs, Cacdac said some 18,000 were affected.
Many OFWs have returned home because of the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The coronavirus infected 6.8 million worldwide, of which 398,256 have died.
According to the latest data of the Department of Health, there are currently 20,626 COVID-19 cases in the Philippines, with 987 deaths and 4,330 recoveries.