DMW reports 5,325 OFW repatriate beneficiaries in 2023 By JISELLE ANNE C. CASUCIAN, GMA Integrated News

A total 5,325 OFW beneficiaries have received assistance from the Department of Migrant Workers this year, the DMW said Thursday. During a hearing of the Committee on Overseas Workers Affairs at the House of Representatives on Thursday, DMW Acting Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac said that P414 million of the department’s P1.2-billion action fund has been used to provide assistance to repatriated OFWs from the Turkey earthquake, the conflict in Sudan, the catastrophes in the Middle East, and the Israel-Hamas conflicts in Israel, Gaza and Lebanon. Cacdac said that the budget was spent on legal, medical and humanitarian assistance for OFWs. He added that repatriates were able to receive P30,000 in financial assistance upon return, with repatriates coming from war zones receiving P50,000. “May balanse pa tayong around P780 million. Meron po tayong catch-up plan na sinasagawa for the last two months of the year. Most of these funds will be rolled over to 2024 anyway, at plano naman po natin na gugulin ito sa 2024,” said Cacdac. (We have a balance of around P780 million. We have a catch-up plan for the last two months of the year. Most of these funds will be rolled over to 2024 anyway, and we plan to spend them in 2024.) Cacdac also said that the families of 746 OFWs in Israel and Gaza were being assisted in locating their relatives overseas. Of the total, 744 have been accounted for, with four reported dead and two still being located. On Wednesday, the Israeli government counted two Filipinos among Hamas' hostages. But according to a report by GMA Integrated News' JP Soriano, the Philippine Embassy in Tel Aviv has yet to receive official confirmation that Filipinos are among those held hostage by Hamas. “Ayon na din sa utos ng ating mahal na pangulo, gawin lahat ng makakaya natin para tulungan ang mga nanumbalik at yung pamilyang naiwan ng apat na nasawi. Kaya nakatutok po tayo together with administrator Arnell Ignacio at ang OWWA sa pagtulong sa pamilya ng apat na nasawi,” Cacdac said. (On the orders of the President, we will do everything we can to help those who have returned and the families of the four who have died. We together with administrator Arnell Ignacio and the OWWA are focusing on helping the families of the four who have died.) — BM, GMA Integrated News

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