More than 540,000 Overseas Filipino workers have managed to come back home after being hit by the pandemic since last year with assistance from the government, an official of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said on Friday. Another 49,000 are still waiting to be repatriated while more than 78500 workers displaced due to Covid-19, chose to remain in their host country.
During a Laging Handa press conference, Alice Visperas, director of the DOLE’s International Labor Affairs Bureau, said, “Over 500,000 OFW-beneficiaries of the Abot Kamay ang Pagtulong (AKAP) program have received one-time cash assistance worth PHP10,000 or US$200 financial from the government. The total amount of aid offered is more than PHP 5.2 billion (around AED 40 million).”
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She also shared that many OFWs have benefitted from the vaccination program against Covid-19 of the host countries where they are deployed. Countries in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East have included Filipino workers, especially health workers, in their vaccination program, according to Visperas.
“Here in Asia, Hong Kong has taken the lead. It is making the jab mandatory for our OFWs. Japan started inoculation of our OFWs in July last year. In Singapore too many of our OFWs have received the vaccine especially health workers and other skilled workers,” she added.
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Other countries that included OFWs in their vaccination drive are the United Kingdom, Bahrain, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, Visperas said. (AW)
