Most of the overseas Filipino workers (OFW) who were slated to return to the Philippines this year have now refused repatriation after getting anti-COVID shots abroad, Department of Labor and Employment-Information and Publication Service (DoLE-IPS) Director Rolly Francia said Thursday.
"Per International Labor Affairs Bureau (ILAB) estimates, it's about 60 to 70 percent (number of OFWs who backed out of repatriation after receiving vaccine)," Francia said in a message to reporters.
"The ILAB chief says this has to be validated with the POLOs (Philippine Overseas Labor Offices)," he added.
DoLE, citing POLO figures, earlier said that between 60,000 and 80,000 OFWs were supposed to be repatriated this 2021.
This means that the number of vaccinated OFWs who have opted not to return to the country, at least for now, is 36,000 to 56,000.
The Philippines has yet to launch a mass inoculation campaign against the deadly new coronavirus, although local government units are supposedly ready to carry out the effort and are just waiting for the foreigner-made anti-COVID vaccines to arrive.