OFW kin in quake-hit areas get OWWA help

Over 15,000 relatives of overseas Filipino workers who were affected by last week's deadly earthquake in Central Visayas are receiving assistance from the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA).

OWWA Administrator Carmelita Dimzon received orders from Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz to provide these OFWs' kin with help until their lives return to normal.

“The regional welfare offices of the OWWA in Bohol and Cebu have already identified 3,426 active and 12,078 inactive OWWA members in 28 Bohol towns classified by the Regional Disaster Relief and Rehabilitation Management Council (RDRRMC) as badly-hit municipalities, so the OWWA is under instruction to already farm out rehabilitation and relief assistance to these OWWA members,” Baldoz said, citing a report from the OWWA.

Baldoz said OWWA assistance was in the form of a welfare mission to bring food, water, medicines, and other basic necessities to the affected communities.

“It should also provide counseling services,” Baldoz added.

For her part, Dimzon said she relayed Baldoz’s directive to the OWWA field offices in Cebu and Bohol, which are now doing the necessary preparation for its intervention.

A breakdown of the 15,494 to be assisted included:

  • Tagbilaran City, 4,512
  • Loon, 933
  • Tubigon, 1,256
  • San isidro, 95
  • Carmen, 711
  • Inabanga, 601
  • Antequera, 346
  • Sagbayan, 387
  • Butuan, 267
  • Corela, 168
  • Maribojoc, 515
  • Cortez, 404
  • Calape, 664
  • Clarin, 501
  • Danao, 174
  • Dagohoy, 211
  • Sikatuna, 174
  • Trinidad, 371
  • Alicia, 385
  • Sevilla, 219
  • Sierra Bullones, 476
  • Balilihan, 249
  • Catigbian, 370
  • Buenavista, 247
  • Lila, 378
  • Loboc, 455
  • Getafe, 96
  • Bilar, 329

Baldoz earlier visited Cebu to meet with DOLE regional officials, employers, and workers there. While in the province, she got first-hand information on the progress of the Department of Labor and Employment’s emergency employment program.

Baldoz also instructed the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration and the Bureau of Local Employment to conduct job fairs in the affected areas.

Baldoz told the OWWA it should prioritize stabilizing the lives of these OFWs in coordination with local government units and regional disaster and relief management officials.

“There is no time to be wasted in the effort because Christmas is coming and we don’t want our OFW families, or any Filipino worker for that matter, to be gloomy,” she said. — KBK, GMA News

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