Marcos allocates extra to P3B for repatriation of OFWs from the Heart East
Repatriated in a foreign country Filipino employees arrive on the Villamor Air Base in Pasay Town on Friday, April 10, 2026, aboard a government-chartered flight from Abu Dhabi as a part of the Migrant Employees Division’s ongoing repatriation efforts amid tensions within the Heart East. —Archive picture of the Kid Jesus Orbeta | INQUIRER
MANILA, Philippines – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered the discharge of an extra P3 billion to spice up the Division of Migrant Employees’ (DMW) repatriation and reintegration program for in a foreign country Filipino employees (OFWs) displaced via the Heart East battle.
The higher fund will finance all the “repatriation chain, from post-departure assistance to flights and reintegration,” Govt Secretary Ralph Recto mentioned in a remark on Sunday.
“War or no war, there are Filipinos in extreme distress who we should bring home,” he added.
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As of June 17, 10,446 Filipinos had safely returned to the Philippines from the Heart East via humanitarian flights arranged via the DMW. Those integrated 8,281 OFWs, 1,803 dependents and 362 stranded electorate.
READ: OWWA: OFW repatriates from Heart East achieve 6,532 as of April 20
“If you remember, these flights also became medical evacuations (medical evacuation) for sick Filipinos. The DMW, through the brilliant leadership of Secretary Hans Cacdac, brought medical personnel on board to care for them,” Recto mentioned.
Marcos crowned up the OFW help fund “because the president does not want repatriation to be a mere airport-to-airport matter.”
“The President’s order is that OFWs should not be left alone after they return to our country. What the President wants is for assistance to reach the provinces with people in urgent need and above all, provide economic opportunities to our repatriated OFWs,” Recto mentioned.
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The Place of business of the Govt Secretary didn’t explain the place the P3 billion of the restricted fiscal house of the 2026 nationwide price range can be sourced.
Right through a Senate committee listening to in March, DMW Secretary Hans Cacdac mentioned the Philippine authorities would wish P13 billion to evacuate all Filipinos in spaces immediately suffering from the present tensions within the Heart East.
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With the P1.5 billion Emergency Repatriation Fund ultimate from the In another country Employees Welfare Management (OWWA) in March, the company mentioned it will best quilt the repatriation of greater than 10,000 Filipinos.
Sooner than the disaster within the Heart East, the repatriation price in keeping with particular person used to be between 135,000 and 140,000 pesos, in line with OWWA.
The DMW additionally has P2 billion below its Aksyon Fund (Agarang Kalinga at Saklolo para sa mga OFWs in want) within the 2026 nationwide price range to supply prison, clinical and fiscal reinforce to troubled OFWs and their households.
The USA and Iran will cling a brand new spherical of negotiations in Geneva, after Tehran mentioned it will shut the Strait of Hormuz once more over Israeli assaults on Lebanon.
Washington introduced a brand new ceasefire on Friday as a situation of its initial settlement with Iran. However Israeli troops clashed once more with Hezbollah opponents on Saturday, with each and every aspect accusing the opposite of breaking the truce.
Hormuz, a key conduit for oil and gasoline shipments, used to be blocked via Iran for a lot of the struggle beginning on February 28, sending shockwaves via world power markets and forcing OFWs primarily based in Heart Jap international locations to be repatriated to the Philippines.
Upon arrival of repatriated OFWs, the “standard welcome package” they may be able to flip to comprises “financial assistance, psychosocial counselling, medical assessment, re-employment and livelihood counselling,” Recto mentioned, quoting a DMW insider.
“By harnessing the skills of OFWs honed by their work abroad, society also benefits. This is a type of technology transfer that helps the economy. It is a brain gain that we need,” he added.
READ: US and Iran get ready for brand spanking new talks after delays and fatal assaults
To boost up the reintegration of OFWs into the staff, the DMW has already performed 15 Nationwide Returning Employee Hero Reintegration Networks and process festivals around the nation.
Those complete festivals attach them to native and in a foreign country process alternatives, livelihood reinforce, and fiscal teaching programs, amongst different services and products.
The OWWA, via its Balik Pinas Programme, Balik Hanapbuhay, has additionally equipped livelihood help to 664 just lately returned OFWs. An OFW can obtain as much as P20,000 in small industry start-up help.
For returning Filipino-licensed academics, the Division of Schooling (DepEd) has additionally created a “recruitment pathway” that can permit them to show in public faculties.
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The most recent information from the DepEd mentioned that round 10,000 former OFWs had joined the general public educating pressure via its Sa Pinas, Ikaw ang Ma’am at Sir (SPIMS) program. /das /atm
