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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider OWWA expects 100K OFWs to come home this Christmas

OWWA expects 100K OFWs to come home this Christmas

Published Dec 10, 2021 03:24 pm

Around 100,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are expected to return home this month in time with the Christmas season, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) said Friday, Dec. 10.

(Jansen Romero / File Photo/ MANILA BULLETIN)

"For this Christmas, umaasa tayo ng 80,000 to 100,000 (we are expecting that at least 80,000 to 100,000 OFWs will come home) in December alone," OWWA Administrator Hans Leo Cacdac said.

According to Cacdac, the number of returning OFWs for this year's holiday is almost back to pre-pandemic figures.

"Ang tantiya namin ay hindi ganoon kalaki ang kaibahan noong pre-pandemic sa uuwi ngayong Pasko. Hindi na rin unusual na may umuuwi na magbabakasyon lamang kasi nag-resume na ang economic life abroad (The number of OFWs going home this Christmas does not have much difference from the pre-pandemic period. It is no longer unusual for someone to go home just for vacation because economic life abroad has already resumed)," Cacdac added.

The OWWA chief also shared his observation during a conference he attended in Dubai where life is almost back to the "old normal" with the government's "tremendous effort in bringing back their economies to life."

"That also means na iyong trabaho ng OFWs natin ay restored na rin sa pangkalahatan. Ang ibig sabihin lang nito ay hindi na natin nakikita katulad noong 2020 na bumagsak talaga iyong numero noong umuwi (the work of OFWs has been restored. This means that we will not see anymore the drop in the number of returning OFWs like in 2020)," he said.

“Ngayon nakikita na natin more or less halos kahalintulad na ng levels ng pre-COVID pandemic (Now we are already seeing more or less almost the same levels pre-pandemic)," Cacdac added.

Meanwhile, Cacdac assured that the government is prepared to welcome the returning migrant workers and safety protocols are already in place especially with the threat of the Omicron variant of COVID-19.

OWWA said around 820,000 OFWs have been repatriated back to the Philippines from different countries since March last year through its repatriation program.

Related Tags

Christmas holiday hans leo cacdac Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) overseas Filipino workers (OFW) Repatriation
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