A total of 22 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) were recently rescued from poor working and living conditions in Denmark.
Senator Joel Villanueva, chair of the Senate Committee on Labor, Employment and Human Resources Development, lauded the rescue of the distress OFWs through a statement, reported Manila Bulletin.
“We welcome the immediate rescue of 22 OFWs from unsafe and substandard working conditions in Denmark,” he said.
“No Filipino worker deserves to be treated inhumanely, more so in a foreign land,” he added.
The senator also urged concerned government agencies to provide necessary assistance to the OFWs.
“We expect the concerned authorities, DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs) and DOLE (Department of Labor and Employment) to extend our distressed OFWs all the necessary assistance they need—social, economic and legal services,” he said.
It was not mentioned if the OFWs have been repatriated to the Philippines.
Villanueva also said that the rescue of the distressed OFWs from Denmark is a clear reason why the Senate Bill 1819 or the Social Welfare Attaché bill must be approved immediately.
The said bill seeks the permanent deployment of social welfare attachés in Philippine embassies in countries with large numbers of OFWs.
The bill calls for all Philippine embassies to have social welfare attachés to manage cases of OFWs in distress and coordination with different agencies to ensure the psychosocial needs of distressed OFWs are addressed.
Villanueva authored Senate Bill No. 1819 following the reported suicide of two OFWs in Saudi Arabia and Lebanon.
“Kapag may permanenteng Social Welfare Attachés sa ating mga Philippine foreign posts, maiibsan natin ang mga kaso ng pang-aabuso at pagmamaltrato sa ating mga kababayan,” he said.
