The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) has provided 42,963 Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) in Negros Occidental and Bacolod City with repatriation assistance on their return to the Philippines this year.
Given assistance in Negros Occidental were 26,357 OFWs and in Bacolod City – 13,606, Rizza Moldes, OWWA Western Visayas OIC regional director, said Monday, December 27.
Repatriation assistance covers all returning OFWs, she said.
These include vacationing workers, distressed and displaced OFWs and those who fished their work contracts, she added.
The Negros Occidental provincial government held an “International Migrants Day Celebration” at the Capitol Social Hall in Bacolod City on Monday.
Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson, in his speech, said there are 10 million Filipinos living abroad and more than 1 million leave the country each year to work in foreign countries.
“While some migration flows are due to the pursuit of professional advancement, most migrations are caused by economic challenges and poverty. Millions of Filipinos need to work abroad to support their families back home,” he said.
“With Filipino migrant workers ranging from health to economic frontliners, service providers, and even peacekeepers, Filipino OFWs are indeed a blessing to whatever industry and country they are in,” he added.
The governor stressed that there is a need to ensure that the migrant workers’ fundamental rights are protected.
The call is not just for global solidarity in handling the difficulties and complications faced by migrant workers all over the world, but also for the much-needed reforms anchored on the new normal, he added.
He assured the OFWs that the provincial government will continue to aid and support them.
“We commit to our collective goal and hope, that soon, our fellow Filipinos need not leave our lands in order to find a better future for their families,” Lacson also said.*