House to probe repatriation of stranded OFWs amid pandemic

MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives is set to probe issues related to the repatriation of stranded overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) as countries continue to grapple with the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Anakalusugan Rep. Mike Defensor, who chairs the House committee on public accounts that will be conducting the probe, said that the inquiry will be held on Friday, June 26.

“Consistent with the directive of Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano in the case of the social amelioration program, we want to look into the problems plaguing the repatriation of our workers overseas, who have lost their jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and find solutions,” Defensor said in a statement.

“We want the living as well as the dead repatriated as soon as possible. They have been stranded abroad for months,” the lawmaker added.

According to Defensor, House leaders are puzzled as to why it is taking concerned agencies so long to fly stranded OFWs home.

“We have thousands of them in Saudi Arabia and other countries in the Middle East and Europe who have been waiting to return home since the coronavirus outbreak,” Defensor said.

“What are the agencies’ problems in trying to get them home? Are there no planes that can be chartered to fly them? Are there no government planes or ships that could be used? Are there sufficient repatriation and related funds? These are some of the questions we want answered,” he added.

Defensor likewise hit the difference in the figures reported by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and the Philippine Embassy in Saudi Arabia.

“The agencies cannot even agree on the number of fatalities. The labor department reported that there are about 280, while our embassy in Saudi Arabia claimed in a television report that there are more than 350, 100 of whom have died due to COVID-19,” Defensor said.

But even when OFWs have been repatriated back to the Philippines, some of them are still stranded in airports while waiting for flights to their respective provinces.

“The sight of hundreds sleeping under the NAIA tollway for days before the Army took pity on them and offered them temporary shelter does not speak well of the agencies that should be attending to them,” Defensor said.

“Again, we ask, are there no Air Force planes or Navy or Coast Guard vessels that could transport our workers to their provinces in Mindanao and Visayas?” he added.

The hearing on Friday will be under a hybrid set-up with some of the invited officials and lawmakers attending through videoconferencing.

Among those invited are officials from DOLE, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF), Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Department of Transportation (DOTr), and some ambassadors assigned to the Middle East.

Representatives from the OFW sector are also invited.

/MUF