FILE PHOTO from DFA
MANILA, Philippines — The number of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) returning home for the holidays is almost back to pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) said Thursday.
This is because the economies of other countries where Filipinos are coming from are recovering, enabling them to have stable jobs again and go home to the Philippines for vacation, according to OWWA Administrator Hans Cacdac.
“Ang tantiya namin ay hindi ganoon kalaki ang kaibahan noong pre-pandemic sa uuwi ngayong Pasko. Kasi nga sabi ko ay hindi na rin unusual na may umuuwi na magbabakasyon lamang. Kasi nag-resume na ang economic life abroad,” he said in a public briefing.
(Our estimate is that the number of OFWs going home for Christmas is not far from before the pandemic. OFWs returning home for vacation is no longer unusual since economic life abroad has resumed.)
When he was in a conference in Dubai, Cacdac said he observed that life there is almost back to the old normal, saying the country “made a tremendous effort in bringing back their economies to life.”
“That also means na iyong trabaho ng OFWs natin ay restored na rin sa pangkalahatan. Ang ibig sabihin lang nito ay hindi na natin nakikita katulad noong 2020 na bumagsak talaga iyong numero noong umuwi,” he said.
(That also means that the work of OFWs has been restored. We don’t see anymore the drop in returning OFWs like in 2020.)
“Ngayon nakikita na natin more or less halos kahalintulad na ng levels natin. ‘Yung 80,000 to 100,000 na ‘yan ay halos pa rin tulad ng levels ng pre-COVID pandemic,” Cacdac added.
(Now we’re already seeing more or less almost the same levels pre-pandemic. The 80,000 to 100,000 is almost the same levels pre-pandemic.)
To date, the Philippine government placed 15 countries under its “red list.” Countries in this list are considered high risk for COVID-19, especially amid the detection of the latest coronavirus variant named Omicron.
Returning Filipinos from these countries are barred from entering the Philippines until December 15.
These 15 countries include France, Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, Italy, South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Eswatini, and Mozambique.