1.6M OFWs displaced by pandemic

By: Dona Z. Pazzibugan, Nestor Corrales - @inquirerdotnet05:26 AM October 23, 2020 More than half million overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) were displaced by the pandemic abroad while an estimated 1.1 million more were unable to resume or start working overseas since January, official figures showed. According to data from the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole), as of Oct. 20, there were 505,837 OFWs who were affected by the pandemic, including the 864 who died out of the 9,402 OFWs who contracted COVID-19. A total 496,435 OFWs were reported to have lost their jobs due to the global economic shutdown. The Dole said 260,575 of the distressed OFWs had already been repatriated while 131,047 were still waiting to be brought home. Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said he was surprised to find that 104,813 OFWs opted to stay to stay put rather than face economic uncertainty in the Philippines. “There are thousands (of OFWs) who lost their jobs or cannot go to their jobs because of the lockdown,” Bello said in an online media forum on Wednesday. Based on last year’s deployment data, the Dole estimated that over 1 million returning and newly hired OFWs were unable to be deployed. The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) reported that 682,000 OFWs left the country from January to September this year, of which 440,000 are land-based while 241,000 are sea-based workers. Down 60% The overseas deployment is 60 percent less than 1.72 million OFWs deployed during the same period last year but the Dole admitted that the one-time government assistance of $200 for displaced OFWs has so far been able to reach only 302,198 OFWs. The Dole has already spent P3.082 billion for the Abot Kamay ang Pagtulong (Akap) for OFWs, but Bello said the agency has allocated P3 billion more for the program out of its P13-billion additional emergency budget. Aside from distressed OFWs, Bello has also aired concern for micro, small and medium-scale enterprises (MSMEs) that are worried they could not pay their workers the mandatory 13th month salary. Bello lll estimated that P5 billion to P13.7 billion would be needed to subsidize distressed MSME employers so they could pay their 13th month pay. For more news about the novel coronavirus click here. What you need to know about Coronavirus. For more information on COVID-19, call the DOH Hotline: (02) 86517800 local 1149/1150. The Inquirer Foundation supports our healthcare frontliners and is still accepting cash donations to be deposited at Banco de Oro (BDO) current account #007960018860 or donate through PayMaya using this link .

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PCG: China’s bullying in West Philippine Sea undermines international law --- Ghio Ong - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — Letting China sustain its aggression in the West Philippine Sea would make other countries doubt the strength of international law currently being asserted by the Philippines, Commodore Jay Tarriela of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said. “Allowing China to blatantly disregard the established rules-based order threatens the very foundation that we all depend on,” he wrote in a post on X last Tuesday. He added, “If we permit this, countries worldwide may forget why this order was created in the first place. Nations could begin to doubt the significance of adhering to international law if powerful bullies can easily violate it.” Tarriela also said defiance of other countries to a rules-based order would result in the prevalence of cruelty. He wrote, “This could lead us back to a time when might makes right, undermining the global structures that keep human greed, savagery and barbarism in check. Such a scenario would not only invite challenges from aggressive ...
Read more

China ships maintain presence in key West Philippine Sea areas --- Michael Punongbayan - The Philippine Star

STAR / Michael Varcas MANILA, Philippines — While Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) have decreased in number, they have maintained a presence in three key land features where naval and coast guard ships have intensified operations in the past seven days, according to the Philippine Navy. Latest monitoring by the Philippine Navy showed armed ships of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) maintaining a menacing presence around the grounded BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal, Panatag Shoal and Escoda Shoal. According to the Philippine Navy, there are 17 Chinese military vessels and 28 China Coast Guard (CCG) boats spotted inside the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) between Sept. 23 and 30, or one vessel more than in the previous week Sept.17-23. Five of the warships were seen roaming around the vicinity of Escoda Shoal, along with 10 CCG vessels and 12 maritime militia vessels (MMVs). There are also two PLAN ships in Ayungin Shoal as well as 10 CCG boats and 12...
Read more

Social media seen as cause of rising intermarriages --- Helen Flores - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) sees social media as the main reason for the rising number of Filipinos marrying or becoming partners of foreign nationals. In 2022, the CFO recorded 6,854 marriages or partnerships with foreign nationals, a 40.1 percent increase from the 4,891 “intermarriages” recorded in 2021. “First of all, what we see in the increase in the marriage rate of Filipinos or Filipinos with foreign partners is because of social media, (that) is number one; matchings; letters, introduction of their friends,” CFO chairperson Romulo Arugay said at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing yesterday. Arugay said the agency has been registering a high number of intermarriages since 2007, but the figures went down during the COVID-19 pandemic. From over 6,500 Filipinos who married foreign nationals, only 600 are men, he said. Most of them are married to Americans, Japanese, Germans, Canadians and Australians, Arugay said. Arugay warned Fi...
Read more