POEA resumes serving OFWs in Yolanda-hit Tacloban

Good news for overseas Filipino workers who are from Tacloban City, one of the areas hit hardest by Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan)—the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration has reopened its office there.

POEA administrator Hans Leo Cacdac on Wednesday said the POEA office in Tacloban managed to process four OFWs on Tuesday, the first time since Yolanda devastated the city last Nov. 8.



POEA's Tacloban City office was forced to stop operations since Nov. 8, when Yolanda battered the Eastern Visayas and Southern Luzon, leaving over 5,500 people dead and thousands more displaced.

While the POEA office in Tacloban City was closed, OFWs in Eastern Visayas were asked to have their documents processed in at least seven of the agency's other offices, including in Legazpi, Cebu, or Metro Manila.

Disaster officials had earlier said businesses have normalized in Tacloban city, noting that 12 banks have resumed operations and public-utility vehicles have started plying their routes. Five radio stations have also resumed operations. — KBK, GMA News

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