Remains of 71 more OFWs to be flown home Tuesday

Labor and Employment Sec. Silvestre Bello III (Henzberg Austria/Senate PRIB)

The Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) on Sunday said 71 more bodies of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who died in Saudi Arabia would be flown to the Philippines on Tuesday.

Of the 71 OFWs, 57 succumbed to the coronavirus disease, while the rest died of other causes.

The Dole has so far flown home 137 bodies of OFWs in two batches earlier this month. The remains of those who died of COVID-19 were immediately brought to crematoriums, while the others were flown back to their respective provinces.Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III, in a statement, said that just like the first two batches, the third batch will arrive to a reception, stressing that they “deserve all the honors the government could give.”

“I say they fought a good fight because just like what our migrant workers are known for, they worked tirelessly to make good for their families and contributed immensely to our country,” he said.

“All expenses for the repatriation, cremation, transportation and other costs are shouldered by the government,” Bello added.

The Dole also reported that more than 106,200 OFWs repatriated by the government amid the COVID-19 pandemic have been transported to their home provinces.

The latest batch of 2,246 home-bound OFWs, who tested negative for COVID-19, took their rides back to their respective provinces on July 25, Dole’s Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (Owwa) data showed.

Surging number

In May, over 34,000 OFWs were transported home, and an additional 72,000 more were ferried in the succeeding months.

With the surge in the number of returning OFWs, Bello said the government would exhaust all means to help OFWs regain jobs they lost abroad due to the pandemic.

Latest reports from the Dole’s overseas offices and the Owwa showed that 254,846 requests for assistance under the Abot Kamay ang Pagtulong (Akap) program had been approved, with 214,619 OFWs already receiving the emergency aid.Akap is a onetime cash assistance of $200 or P10,000 for on-site and repatriated OFWs affected by the pandemic. About 554,966 migrant workers have sought the government cash aid.

The labor department has so far disbursed P2.232 billion of the P2.5-billion program fund as of July 21. It has requested an additional P2.5 billion in order to service the needs of more OFWs seeking assistance. INQ