Senate inquiry sought into plight of displaced OFWs

‘PREDEPARTURE AREA’ Workers who two months ago were looking forward to jobs abroad but whose international flights were canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic sit out the day on the sidewalk along Andrews Avenue in Pasay City. After being stranded in Metro Manila, they were supposed to be flown back to their home provinces in Mindanao on Tuesday. This time, their domestic flights were canceled. —EDWIN BACASMAS

Two senators on Tuesday urged their colleagues to look into the government’s program for thousands of repatriated overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who were forced to return home after the coronavirus pandemic left them jobless.

In separate resolutions, Senators Risa Hontiveros and Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. cited the need to conduct a legislative inquiry into the Duterte administration’s overall plan in responding to the economic, medical and mental health concerns of the displaced OFWs.

Hontiveros said there should be a detailed reintegration program to help some 300,000 migrant workers who were expected to return home and to address the needs of their families.

In addition, she said there should be specific programs for female OFWs, who comprised nearly 60 percent of some 10.4 million Filipinos working abroad.

“We must put an end to the suffering of our migrant workers and their families during this pandemic,” Hontiveros said in filing Senate Resolution No. 445.

“(I)t is essential that the government’s return and reintegration programs take the needs of OFWs and their families into account in developing and implementing financial aid programs for households in distress, mental health and psycho-social services, and medical assistance in relation to COVID-19, including mandatory testing,” she added.

Revilla, on the other hand, sought a review of the government’s repatriation program for migrant workers, noting that thousands of OFWs were still marooned in several foreign countries.

“There is a pressing need to accelerate and expedite the repatriation process and maximize all available resources and systems to bring home all the stranded OFWs abroad,” Revilla said.

“The anguish of waiting, the torment of being away from their families, the financial and employment anxieties, the uncertainty of events and of the future, among many other considerations, affect their health not only physically but also mentally and emotionally,” he added.

As this developed, former ACTS-OFW Rep. Aniceto “John” Bertiz III, who figured in a viral video for flouting airport security protocols, was named by President Duterte as deputy director general of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda).

Palace spokesperson Harry Roque said Bertiz was tasked to provide skills training to the thousands of OFWs who went home after losing their jobs abroad.

Bertiz took his oath on Monday before Tesda director general Isidro Lapeña at the Tesda’s headquarters in Taguig City.

In a statement, Lapeña welcomed Bertiz’s appointment, saying he would help in “further strengthening our relationships with our OFWs.” —With reports from Dexter Calalza and Leila B. Salaverria INQ