OFWs top agenda in this week's Cabinet meeting - Favila

MANILA, Philippines - The plight of the Filipinos working and living abroad in light of the global financial crisis will be the main agenda of the Cabinet meeting in Malacañang Tuesday, Trade secretary Peter Favila said Monday.

In a chance interview during the 50th anniversary of the RFM Food Corp. in Mandaluyong City, Favila said the ongoing efforts to draw up measures to insulate the Filipinos working and living abroad, including possible assistance on those threatened by retrenchment, would be discussed in the weekly Cabinet meeting.

The departments of Foreign Affairs and Labor and Employment are expected to report on what they have done to comply with President Arroyo’s directive to draw up a contingency plan for OFWs to cushion the impact of a slowdown or a possible recession on them.

Press Secretary Jesus Dureza said the two departments are currently drawing up scenarios to determine the global financial crisis’ impact on the Filipinos abroad and how to prevent or at least lessen its effect on them.

President Arroyo had earlier acknowledged that while the more than eight million Filipinos abroad is just a fraction of the 191 million Filipino migrants all over the world, they play a critical role in the Philippines' economic and social stability. - GMANews.TV

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