Govt sets aside P250M for returning OFWs

MANILA, Philippines - The government has allotted P250 million for livelihood and training assistance for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who are likely to be displaced by the global economic crunch.

At the 34th Business Conference and Exposition, Arroyo said the government has allocated the fund even if there is no threat of displacement.

The Expatriate Livelihood Support Fund the government has created aims to provide reserve money for returning Filipinos. This is only one among a set of contingency plans to assist OFWs affected by the global crisis.

Aside from the fund assistance, which the returning OFWs could use for livelihood and business formation program, the government is setting up a reintegration center providing business counseling.

The President said part of the contingency is to conduct a "24/7 heightened monitoring of overseas labor market displacements" including the monitoring of job orders for possible decrease in overseas labor demand.

"We will register our workers so we can get track of them and we will redeploy them to emerging labor markets. We continue to identify and develop new market niches and we assist in repatriation," she added.

Quoting a report from the Department of Labor and Employment- Philippine Overseas Labor, The President said there is no threat of displacement related to the present financial crisis.

She said employment of the about 2 million Filipinos in the Middle East remains secure and stable, including some 500,000 expatriates in Europe.

She added that the Philippines is also expecting continued increase in employment opportunities in the Middle East in addition to some 30,000 current job opportunities in Canada in the next two years.

Also, some 30,000 jobs in Australia await Filipinos, another 10,000 in New Zealand and 20,000 in Guam. GMANews.TV

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