DMW, inilatag ang mga naisakatuparang hakbang para sa kapakanan ng OFWs
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00:00President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. is not just targeting Filipinos here in the country.
00:07Because the President also has a strict directive to ensure the well-being and safety of our countrymen who are sacrificing abroad.
00:16Not only for their families, but also for the Philippines.
00:20If these were fulfilled, let's find out in the center of the news of Noel Talacay.
00:27Annabelle's experience in Kuwait was unforgettable.
00:33She was jailed when she did not know what her crime was.
00:39And she was still neglected by her employer.
00:42This left her with severe trauma.
00:46I was jailed. We were not allowed to go home.
00:51There was a time at night when I was sleeping and crying.
00:56And when there was noise, that's when I woke up.
01:01Kay seemed to have fallen asleep,
01:04while waiting for her husband to return to the country,
01:09who is a seaman.
01:11After their ship, the Invitrans World Navigator, sank,
01:17while they were sailing in the Red Sea.
01:22I wanted to see him immediately, sir.
01:25I wanted to comfort him because of his trauma.
01:29Annabelle and Kay are just a few of our countrymen who were helped by the Department of Migrant Workers.
01:38This is one of the orders of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
01:42to immediately provide a solution and urgent assistance to the overseas Filipino workers,
01:50including their families.
01:53First of all, there is an action fund that is needed.
01:57This year, it's a Php 2.8 billion action fund.
02:00And on Labor Day, it's the number one directive of our President in the DMW
02:05to look after the action fund.
02:08This is followed by legal assistance, humanitarian assistance, and medical assistance.
02:16Because of the action fund, for instance, the last time I went to Dubai,
02:20Labor Attaché introduced me to 12 OFWs who were acquitted in various court cases.
02:27They were given lawyers and they were acquitted in different kinds of cases.
02:32The action fund also helped the children who were given birth by OFWs in other countries.
02:39We have about 120 OFW babies who were given birth in other countries, in Saudi Arabia,
02:47who do not have an identity.
02:49But their legal identity and legal papers were arranged,
02:54and they were able to go home to our beloved country.
02:56According to the DMW, more than 50,000 OFWs were given legal and labor assistance,
03:06and 10,000 were given financial assistance.
03:10But essentially, nearly 1,000 OFWs in Sudan and nearly 1,000 in the Israel-Hamas-Lebanon situation were acquitted.
03:24The whole of government services were given.
03:27Our financial package of assistance was given unprecedentedly.
03:32According to CACDAC, more than 50,000 OFWs were given financial assistance in Sudan and Israel.
03:42One of the successful projects of the DMW under the administration of Marcus Jr.
03:51is the ONE Repatriation,
03:54where, according to CACDAC, the repatriation of 900 OFWs per month was done.
04:02Because repatriation, we find, is the most common complaint or complaint
04:08of families who are crying in our offices.
04:11Someone called their relative and they want to go home.
04:16The situation is not good in terms of, for example, the food or the salary was not given properly.
04:23It was also successful that some seafarers were returned to their country
04:28who became victims of the Houthi rebels in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
04:34According to the agency, the assistance will continue to the Filipino seafarers
04:40who became victims of the Houthi rebels' invasion
04:44where some of them got sick.
04:47In all three cases, we've handheld the families.
04:50We've repatriated those, at least in the two cases that survived.
04:55However, that's why at the DMW,
05:00we also spearheaded the effort to declare that area as a war-like area.
05:05Aside from this, the DMW also implemented several measures
05:10to ensure the safety of the Filipino seafarers.
05:14We're saying that the seafarers should be given the right to refuse sailing.
05:19There should be maritime escort security forces,
05:22as long as there are Filipino crews passing through that area.
05:26There should be a risk and threat assessment given to us.
05:29We have prohibited those whose ships have already been attacked
05:35from hiring Filipino workers to board ships that will pass through that route again.
05:40According to Calihim, there are 78 Filipino seafarers
05:45who filed for the right to refuse sailing.
05:49It is also one of the agencies' goals
05:52and one of the current administration's regulations,
05:57the reintegration of OFWs.
06:00They were given financial literacy or education,
06:04learning and learning in business,
06:08and their ability to find work while in the country.
06:14We have face-to-face, which generated around 4,500
06:20face-to-face financial literacy and education seminars.
06:24The challenge here is that we make sure that they are properly trained
06:29in the field of business.
06:31If the business is strong, we're also partnering with the private sector here.
06:35According to CACNAX, they will continue to provide services to OFWs
06:41and will continue to implement their mandate
06:45to take care of the welfare and rights of the so-called new citizens of the country,
06:52the overseas Filipino workers.
06:56Noel Talacay for Pambansang TV in Bagong, Philippines.