Sixteen (16) OFWs repatriated from Lebanon received a total of PHP 170,000 (AED 11,116) from the government.
According to a Facebook post by the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW), each OFW returnee received financial assistance from the DMW’s Agarang Kalinga at Saklolo para sa mga OFW na Nangangailangan or AKSYON Fund, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
“Each OFW returnee received immediate financial assistance worth Php 75,000 from the DMW AKSYON Fund, Php 75,000 from OWWA, and Php 20,000 from the DSWD,” DMW wrote. “They will also be assisted in establishing their own livelihood ventures or in finding alternative employment opportunities.”
In the post’s video, they highlighted OFW Francisca Castillo, a household service worker in Lebanon for 40 years. Castillo thanked the government for helping her exit Lebanon safely amid the escalating Israel-Hezbollah conflict.
“Hindi nila kami pinabayaan, hanggang Beirut, hanggang sa pagsakay sa sasakyan, at hanggang ngayon dito sa opisina na to, napakasaya po namin sa ngiting pinakita nila samin dahil welcome po kami rito,” Castillo said.
Castillo is among the 16 OFWs who voluntarily availed of the government’s repatriation program and has already safely arrived in the Philippines’ NAIA Terminal 3 in Pasay City.
So far, the government has repatriated a total of 305 OFWs since the start of the Israel-Hamas conflict in October 2023.
